Crossing the World
LXIII - Shelters (Dalton)

Dalton, an orphan born in the slums, changes his destiny when he is revealed to have escaped as one of the soldiers in training. He spent two years of his life practicing using a wide variety of weapons until he was finally qualified to graduate.

His last test was not an easy and wonderful thing to remember. He had to fight one-on-one in the arena with a young wolf only with a rusty metal stick. However, in the end he was somehow able to pass with a body full of injuries.

Unfortunately, his luck did not last long. For six years after graduation, he was still a gatekeeper. His career is not growing and there is nothing he can do about this.

Once, at the age of 23, there was a rebellion in Oasis. He who at that time was just an ordinary lowly soldier managed to escape the mob's rampage because it proved to have no authority whatsoever in the government. Instead, he was always assigned to patrol around the Oasis protective fence alongside other lowly warriors.

Dalton and his two colleagues realized that they were being used as a meat shield as well as a warning alarm in case a pack of monsters came to Oasis. However, there was no way for them to survive other than following the orders of the rebels while hoping that no monsters would come close to Oasis.

About five months later, on the night that Dalton and two of his colleagues had their turn to patrol late enough, they saw several figures walking up to Oasis. At first Dalton thought that a small group of monsters were attacking Oasis. Therefore, with the metal spear held tightly by the trembling hand, the three of them prepared to fight back.

The three were actually very frightened. But, if they turned around and fled into the Oasis, the only fate that awaited them was simply to be tortured to death. This was why they did not retreat when they saw the silhouettes of the four people.

Slowly their figure became clearer. Two black-robed human figures walked in front, as if protecting the two cloaked figures behind him that looked smaller.

After realizing the four figures were not monsters, Dalton and his colleagues felt grateful and happy with the arrival of the figures.

They must be survivors of the rebellion.

They all have the same mind.

If they bring it, of course they will be given an award.

If they were to take it, perhaps they would no longer need to patrol outside the protective fence.

If they take it, they'll live in a safer place.

Armed with that thought, the three walked over while brandishing the spear they were carrying.

"Don't fight. You better give up here all right."

Dalton warned them. His voice could not hide the feeling of pleasure he felt. He could not wait to hand over all four to the rebels.

The four figures suddenly stopped stepping, then one of the small figures stepped forward and opened the hood that covered his face.

Under the moonlight that radiated through the cracks of dusty dirty air, Dalton saw the figure of the brown-haired girl staring intently at him. His thin lips sheathed a strange grin that was quite intimidating.

At that moment Dalton subconsciously stepped back. The strange feeling that enveloped his body made him reluctant to approach the girl.

The girl then raised her hand and pointed her palm towards one of the three of them. Then, in about two seconds, Dalton's companion who was in front of him collapsed just like that. The man fell down like a puppet that lost its rope.

"What the fuck?! What's going on?!"

Dalton suddenly pecked. His heart was pounding more and more in line with the growing fear.

Still not able to fully realize what was really going on, Dalton's colleague who was still standing before him now began to collapse. His body fell face down hard, making his head roll on the sandy ground for a while before finally stopping. Dark blue blood started seeping from the neck shaft which seemed to be cut off with incredible precision.

"Two times using teleportation with high precision and power used as much as three-quarters. Too wasteful."

Instantly after hearing the flat voice of the figure before him, Dalton's survival instincts began to take over. He disarmed himself and immediately raised both of his hands.

"I surrender! I'll do anything! So, please don't take my life!"

It was at this time that Dalton's first encounter with the only remaining ancestor was.

After several secret visits that forced Dalton to accompany her as a guide, Karen - the name of the ancestor who came to Oasis - reveals the purpose of her visit and asks to meet with the city officials.

At first there was some conflict when the first conference was held. However, in the end they reached some agreements that looked quite favorable to both parties.

The three important points of the agreed agreement include :

First, Karen would dig up the Oasis so that they would not have to worry anymore about the water supply. However, as a payment, he asked for about one cubic kilometer of water first as an excavation fee and would ask for about three cubic kilometers each month after the excavation was completed.

This means they have to save water far when the excavation process begins.

The second point, Karen would deliver groceries to Oasis, but she asked every person who died and the rest of the monsters they hunted to be sent to the Bunker as payment.

No problem with the second point. In fact, although there will be a lot of rejection from the family, this is a solution to bury the people who died considering the difficulty to deal with the bodies in places with extreme weather like this.

The third point, Karen would lend some weapons, however, she asked them to hunt more often so that more monster materials could be sent to the Bunker.

This last point is the least burdensome for the Oasis.

After agreeing to cooperate, the excavation process was finally carried out using equipment completely foreign to Dalton. In addition, in just over a week, a giant seven-kilometer deep well had formed in the center of the city. In the end, the water crisis is no longer something they should worry about.

From that day on, life in the Oasis became much easier and slowly the settlement developed towards a better direction. Some people even began to worship Karen as a messenger sent straight from heaven to save their lives. Unfortunately, this peace did not last long.

Two years after Karen set foot in the Oasis, something that can only be called a disaster begins to devastate the entire land.