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"Why couldn\'t you use the dust veil again?" wouldn\'t that just work the same?" Gil was complaining but he was still going along with the mud idea. It seemed that he was just more annoyed that they had to slowly make the mud and cover themselves in it to help.

"I could try and make a skill that does the same thing but with mud. If I use too much mana I might just crush you with tough mud balls though. Do you want to be my test dummy?" Walker casually asked and looked at Gil while holding a mud ball. The villainous smirk showing a little more evil than intended.

"And Now you aren\'t allowed to buff me at all. I can\'t trust that evil in you. The hero that turned villain. I knew it would happen eventually. I just thought it would be Remey since she likes to beat people up and make poisons now." the resounding smack sound that came as a mud ball hit Gil in the side of the head was more than fair. Remey was not having any of this.

"Otherwise, we are able to keep ourselves better covered with this. I did learn the mud ball skill though. It literally just uses a single mana to shape mud in to a ball though. Not a bad earth and water fusion skill though. I can use it as a base for study." Walker was not surprised that such a skill appeared. But he barely looked in to it except for the fact that it said water and earth fusion skill. That was the best part.

As much as Walker had focused on the fusion of elemental manas, he had taken a pause from that focus of research and growth. The single reason being because he had been too focused on the fact that they had a criminal to stop. He also had just discovered new manas to focus on, specifically life mana that seemed to be an even deeper key to understanding the world and how everything worked than he had expected.

"Oh, there\'s really a skill like that? I was just messing around when I was saying that you should get a new skill from this." Gil had made sure that the mud was covering him better than before. Now he was looking at the mud balls that Walker was forming and passing it to other soldiers. It was a very quick use skill that was definitely using less than one mana because of Walker\'s familiarity with earth and water mana.

"I think it would be a basic skill for some swamp monsters. We already know that some of them make mud balls to the fire from their mouths or to throw at one another in battle. Why can\'t we learn it and use it similarly? Earth and water function can make other skills like a mud slide on a mountain. This is just something similar but in different context.\'\' Walker\'s point was a good one and even a few of the Fel angels took a mental note to retrace their steps in fusion elemental skills.

It was always easy to see a fusion elemental skill as something of its own kind. It was more complicated and definitely cost more mana. But if using the base for a larger skill with one that cost significantly lesser mana, they could draw costs of larger skills down. The saved mana could go to altering the secondary skill needed.

While this was used by some mages already, the idea was often forgotten since the skills would just happen out of instinct or basic progression. Not that they weren\'t always planned out. Some of the more powerful earth mages had to gather earth and greatly prepare themselves for the larger earthquake or earth pit skills they could use. It just mattered how fast they could do so to set up their traps.

"This feeling is horrendous." Current growled out but was glad that he was in his dragonkin form. He could use less mud and easily clean it off wight he water had held from what Walker had shared with him. He was actually very glad he had the ability to be able to control water and keep it clean aside. It meant that he would suffer from this feeling for a much shorter time than the others. But that was just his pride talking.

"Are you done yet? You have been wasting time complaining about the heat for too long." Ignus continued the same grumbling as before. Whereas Rise had already found a spot to absorb extra light elemental mana due to higher light in the air around them. They were still relatively far from the desert but it was just a short span of land away. The trees and the plant life ahead of them was few and far between showing that the desert was not remaining the same size.

What made all of the group wonder was this fact. Even where they were, small piles of sand existed here and there. As if it was being dropped in to the holes of the ground or the sports where water had once pooled. It meant that the desert was more than just expanding to take over a larger and larger area over time. It couldn\'t be naturally doing this.

When Walker had reached this thought he had looked over at Ethan who had followed the idea to cover their skin in mud to protect from the heat and drastically reduce their water consumption. Overall, Ethan was glad to save mana that would have gone to the life mages for reducing the strain of heat, sun, and other desert effects. This also helped them protect from the winds of the desert that would cause the sandstorms. Not that they wanted to deal with a sandstorm any more than what they were dealing with already.

"The desert has expanded a single foot in radius each year we have begun to measure it. We assume that this has stopped but is increasing again due to the increasing storms in the area." The idea was just a theory. The sandstorms definitely contribute to the sands being moved around, but that would not mean that the heat, Light influence, and the drying effect would also increase in the areas with normal soil and plant life. Something had to be taking away those important factors.

"You don\'t expect that this is an effect of the awakening undead? They might have been active in the underground longer than you realize.\'\' Mordant found his own theory. One that clearly had a base here. But a few of the Fel empire angels nodded along with it quickly. This clearly proved that they had similar ideas the entire time of what might be happening around them.

\'The theory is not new. There was one that said the ruins could possess certain runes, magical items, or even cursed objects that drew the life mana toward them or even the elemental mana in general. If that is the case, then it could have been why the entire area has become like this." Ethan was not happy to follow this theory. If it was the case, then it meant there was more than just defeating one undead to do. There was finding the cause of everything and working on it.

Furthermore, it meant that there would be an entire massive effort to reclaim the desert. The changes would lose a large portion of land after reclaiming it. There would be many displaced monsters that might go crazy because of the forceful changes. And furthermore, there would be a power struggle over the research of whatever caused all this or was left behind under the sands.

All of this together was nothing that anyone wanted to deal with right away. "We can work on that as we go. If we beat the undead we have to, then we can search. I would not be surprised if we don\'t find something. Runes were used a lot more in the past than what we think. Especially by the angels that made the floating cities we have yet to see. And we do want to see one eventually." Walker made sure to add in his own curious opinion ion. He wanted the Fel and the Rize angels to know that he was curious about the great floating cities that they bragged about constantly.

"We can visit that desire after we have handled the current events. But if there is more to this, I hope the same help can be asked of." Ethan saw a chance to let the curiosity strengthen the relationships between the Fel empire and the Genesis alliance. It was a chance and he gave it a shot willingly before the conversation died down and the soldiers started to line up for the march toward the desert.

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