Mummy Evolution

In the Kemet Tomb.

After having flown around through the sky for a few hours, Sett and his company finally descended, their mounts kicking up a small cloud of sand as they landed atop a towering dune. Unlike the lands closer to the capital city, the storms weren't everywhere anymore.

In fact, the sand dunes kilometers away were visible from their dune.

Zainah, who was now in a more decent attire, left Sett's arms and jumped onto the sand. She grimaced. The sand was firmer than it looked.

Burrhen transformed back into his human appearance and entered Sett's inner Tomb to rest.

"Did you hurt yourself?" Sett asked.

Zainah shook her head, her instinct to not ask anyone for help kicking in. But then, she remembered something, blushed slightly, and nodded.

"Yeah, I hurt myself a tiny bit. But it's okay."

Saying that she was hurt, that she was not completely alright, was a strange feeling. Long ago, Zainah had stopped asking for help from anyone on anything. Even if she were hurt, sad, or afraid, she would say to herself and others that she was alright—that she had no problem or need for help.

She had no one to rely on, so why bother asking for help?

A warm hand rested over her head.

"Ah, don't make the dust cover my scalp, it is itchy."

Sett ignored her complaint, a small smile tugging at his lips as he gently mussed up her dark locks.

She grabbed his wrist, her grip firm but not forceful. "Stop. Stop, alright?"

Her words lacked bite, though.

At some point, her constant rejection of help had become so ingrained that she had even stopped asking herself for comfort. If she were truly honest, she had long since abandoned her own needs, resigning herself to a passive existence.

Even with Zarah by her side—who she genuinely loved—she had been mentally alone. She hadn't truly cared about living.

It was more of a responsibility.

Sett exhaled softly and blew away the dust that had settled on her head. His breath carried enough force to send the fine grains scattering, leaving her hair cleaner.

Zainah smiled at the sensation of care.

Heh, so I am not just for pleasure to you, huh?

That felt awfully sweet.

And it also made her aware of herself.

If she hadn't met Sett, if he hadn't been so insistent on helping her, maybe she would have never had the change of mind. The willingness to ask for help. He had changed her, he had made her open up her heart, soul, and body.

Yet, I feel like I am bottling something up.

A strange feeling blossomed in her heart.

Annoying Sett.

It was his fault for making her feel so many strange emotions.

Zainah smiled—feeling a bit smug.

It felt good to have someone to blame for her problems.

She decided to blame everything on him from now on.

"So, did the pain in your foot go away?" he asked with a weird foreboding in his heart.

"Yeah, it went away."

He let go off her hair.

"Do I look weird?" she asked, touching her butt with a bit of worry.

The fact that she had lost her virginity echoed inside her mind, even though it was just in the back.

"Zarah won't notice anything, right?"

"She could never she is too dumb for that."

Zainah nodded after some thought.

How cute. Sett looked at her. Does she feel guilty?

"LITTLE PECKINGTON! I TOLD YOU TO LAND SLOWLY!"

Zarah, covered in a thick layer of dust from head to toe, leapt off her mount with pure indignation.

Unlike Zainah and Sett—who had been shielded by Burrhen during the landing—Zarah had been utterly abandoned to the mercy of the elements. Now, her skin and clothes were completely coated in desert brown.

"Arghhh! I am so dusty, you stupid chicken eagle!"

Little Peckington flapped his wings in distress.

"You saw that big worm?!" Zarah pointed an accusing finger at Burrhen, noticing in anger that he was no longer there. "It was so graceful! So gentle with its landing! But you? You! You just dropped like a stone! Do you have no shame?! Aiyaaa, I swear, if you keep acting like this, no one will want to ride you when you grow up!"

Little Peckington let out a confused squawk.

"Humph! I am too disappointed in you, child—is that how I taught you? HUH?"

Zainah and Sett exchanged a glance, their eyes twinkling. Then, they began shaking. Their laughter echoed soon enough, Zainah leaning against Sett as she laughed.

She hadn't laughed this much in so long.

Little Peckington and Zarah turned towards them.

"HAH?" The little girl immediately stormed towards Zainah. "What are you laughing at?"

Zainah smiled, rolled her eyes, and glared at Zarah.

Zarah glared back. But soon, she looked away in defeat.

Too intense—those eyes.

But she was unwilling to be defeated. She looked at how chummy Zainah was with Sett and a smirk tugged on her lips. "Ptui. Ptui. Look at you, you might as well melt into his arms!"

Immediately, Zainah blushed, cleared her throat, and moved away from Sett.

Sett's golden eyes glared at the little girl. This glare was not at the level of Zainah's simple glare—this was the glare of a person who had been scolded by a mother for years. This was the disapproving glare of a whole another level!

Disapproving Golden Glare!

"Do you want a beating? HUH?"

His hands itched.

Zarah bowed immediately, clutching her butt. "Sorry, big bro. My bad."

Sett's eye twitched before he gave the girl a light smack on the head. That was enough to send a cloud of dust flying off her body—leaving her half-clean in an instant.

"I am not a drum!" she complained.

Another smack.

"Okay maybe I am a drum indeed, but only for yu, my big bro."

Zainah gave her a smack in the head.

"Heh. Weak. Did the wind just blow?"

Zainah's lips curled down.

Her hand hurt.

Sett shook his head, grabbed the little troublemaker by the collar, and trapped her under his arm before casually striding forward.

"Where are we going?" she choked out.

Zainah followed, smiling.

"To the world's edge."

Zarah coughed.

She was silent for a moment. A moment only.

"Big bro, that was so cringe. Was that supposed to be a cool line?"

Soon, they reached their destination.

Standing at the edge of the dune, Sett raised his hand and pressed it against the air in front of him.

A solid sensation met his palm.

Zarah, surprised, slipped from his grip and leaned her cheek against the invisible barrier. Then she pressed her whole body against it.

"Wow. What the heck is this?"

Zainah was also surprised.

Meanwhile, Sett's golden eyes glinted with deep admiration as he watched them.

"Tomb Worlds are not like our world—it is not borderless," he explained. "Our world has sea beyond seas, sky beyond skies, and land beyond lands, but all Tombs, beyond exception, have these kinds of dimensional barriers, and there is nothing beyond it other than our world."

Little Peckington walked forward with its fat body and pecked at the dimensional barrie,i making Zarah become irrationally angry for no reason.

"Look at you, so dumb! Are you a chicken or an eagle?!"

The poor eagle cried in grief.

Zainah ignored the quirky dup and looked at Sett.

"Why are we here, Sett?"

Sett smiled. "For no reason?"

She nudged him with her elbow. "Don't lie."

"You know me."

Sett looked at her green eyes and his eyes subconsciously moved to her lips.

"I am dusty," she closed her lips with her hand. "Just tell me. No kisses."

He smiled and lifted her head to look right above them.

Zainah blinked.

There was nothing but swirling dust, clouds, and the sky.

"What?" she frowned. "Is something there?"

"Can't you see it?"

Zarah also noticed the weirdness in their conversation and looked up at the sky. Her eyes slowly, but surely, constricted.

"What, did you see something?" Zainah frowned.

She looked up again.

"There is something inside the clouds," Zarah said. "But it is almost invisible because it also looks like a cloud."

Zainah finally noticed it.

There, in the sky amidst clouds, was a door made of clouds.

High above, nestled within the swirling clouds, a door (doorframe to be exact) floated—so seamlessly blended into the sky that it almost wasn't there.

Its form wavered, shifting between solid and mist, as if slipping between reality and illusion.

Wisps of cloud-like forms clung to its edges, curling and unraveling like ghostly fingers, reaching, retreating. A faint glow pulsed from its frame, the light dim and flickering, as though breathing with the clouds themselves.

Strange sigils traced its surface, appearing for a fleeting second before vanishing like whispers lost to the wind.

"Where does that door lead?" Zarah asked. "Is that the doorway to enter the Guardian room or something?"

Door?

No. It was not a simple entry way into some Guardian room.

"That is not a normal door," he explained. "It is one of the few legends of Ancient Kemet, a treasure that once existed at that period which no longer exists in our real world. And I am here for it."

It was a Tomb Tech.

A treasure from another world.

It had a unique use that worked on its own rules.

"Treasure? What does that treasure do?"

Sett didn't answer, instead, he opened his stats screen and looked at the wealth currently stored in his Inner Tomb.

He had more than enough gold, a few Tier 1 Tomb Hearts, and three Tier 2 Tomb Hearts. Then, he also had a lot of miscellaneous wealth like clothes and other things.