The journey took only a week rather than the months it should have, though nothing much changed in their daily routine. Dong noticed Dave's unease. "Master, you seem rushed. The desert has been around since the beginning, why hurry now?"

  Dave shook his head. "It's not the desert in particular; something isn't right about it, but the rush is ascending ASAP." He once again brushed the hairs down on the back of his neck.

  The journey consisted of more of the same training lectures and one fun discussion on comparative religion in worlds where gods directly interact with the people and worlds that can legitimately question their existence. Both Dong and Lilly were saddened when Dave told them the Earthrelm multiverse creator god had moved on to another project and left his homeworld on autopilot.

  "Nah, Earth don't actually need a god . . . well didn't, seems like after I died things got weird, but before that no monsters no magic no nothing but science, Dude just wrote fundamental laws and buggard off." he shrugged with a smirk on his face. the thought that that reality would upset believers and non-believers alike seemed to tickle him in a twisted way.

  "Master if your home was abandoned why show such deference to the gods? more so here where she chooses not to interfere?" While not abandoned no prayers would ever be answered so a valid question. Dong and nearly all people of this land practiced ancestor worship, again sensible when they can on occasion show up to help people ascend.

  Dave bobs his head from side to side "I get where yer comin' from, but this'z my 4th world and it ain't gonna be my last so's manners maketh man as they say." while he had no love for the gods they had given him advantages for each new world. The (RPG) interface stats/inventory, the (All tongue) and carryover (keeping everything from the last world), (Sage of ways) the ability to utilize any and all abilities of a world.

  "Lilly thinks that if the goddess of the world wants everyone to be strong, then being weak is a sin, right master?" the blunt assessment of the world came from a place of someone who was once weak.

  "Well yer not wrong, but yer missin' the bigger picture." Dave stood and took the look around you pose. "the more important factor is how di ya use that strength, a strong man can climb a mountain, and a stronger man can help others reach the top too."

  Both companions sat silently for a moment the campfire light dancing across the contemplative faces. "then do you help us because you see it as the duty of the strong?" Dong's words looked like a slap to Lilly's face. Before she could say anything Dave let out a deep belly laugh.

  "Na, I do what I feel is right, not what I think is the right thing to do, the difference bein' again 'The why'. trying to be good in hopes of reward don't make you a good person helping cuz it makes you feel good to see smiles that makes you good." he gave them a moment to digest that tidbit before continuing. "Two ways to measure good bein' intent and outcome, well les' you know every outcome only wantin' to help matters."

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  "Lilly is confused master, You also said the road to hell is paved with good intentions, so which is right?" unknowingly facing the atomic bomb of ethics philosophy with the same problem everyone must face. how much does intent matter when weighed against outcome?

  Dave could only shake his head, "I donno' Lil, nobody does. think things through, minimize harm, and just do your best." knowing some people with good intentions are also stupid enough to pass as evil.

  In the morning, they flew to the edge of the desert, but the wolves stopped mid-air and began growling and barking. "well ain't that just ducky, looks like it's not a direct flight."

  the set down several paces away from the edge of the desert. Dave made a shh motion and waved everyone back. Lilly almost started laughing and Dong was utterly baffled as Dave seemed to be seeking up on a desert. Dave tossed a chunk of unidentified meat into the sand while making sure not to set foot on it.

  a few moments after the chunks hit the ground Dave let out a breath and then sat on the ground, and just watched the sand. Lilly and Dong sat to either side of him. "master?" Dong mouthed the question.

  Dave was looking at a stopwatch and back at the meat. he stopped it at exactly 15 minutes "Well that answers 2 questions. It is neither death sand nor a living land beast." he then took a handful of sand sprinkling it into the other, feeling its complete lack of coarseness he raised an eyebrow.

  the 'sand' was all tiny perfect spheres finer than sugar but not as fine as flour. "so this is not a natural thing either, a couple more tests guys hang tight." he then took a two-handed scoop of sand and placed it around a near by sapling. "EXELERATE!" the sapling grew from one foot to three in under a minute. the sand did nothing.

  "curiouser and curiouser, the sand is not spreading." now kneeling at the edge scooping out a hole and feeling the soil forming a solid smooth wall then moving 10 paces to one side and repeating the process another 5 times. "gimme a hand with this." handing both large buckets. "dump it out aways."

  While Dave's actions made sense to him on one level 'the real Dave' was more confused than his companions, he had already determined that the desert was bowl-shaped why the digging? Numbers, letters, and equations flooded his mind. STOP he thought to himself, his higher mind simplified... a sphere, and if it continues growing at its current rate in 12,000 years the world will start to crumble as the bottom falls out.

  'WTF' "How the hell does a whole fuckin' world die!?, specially with a life drain spell? " this is the moment Dave should have understood what Lilly truly was... "dose it matter master we shall all ascend soon, the lives of mortals should be of no concern." Dong's matter-of-fact tone did give Dave pause, having outlived family and friends on two worlds he understood rationally that short lives next to immortals... "All lives matter, living forever does not mean being indifferent, cold, or cruel to mortals."

  "It sounds like you have experience master, how is it so?" both students looked eager for the answer. "I was immortal Before I came here, before I was summoned as a hero. I died of shade poisoning in Darkweld, not old age." The title Master of Lytheria was no a small thing he had to attain Lvl 100 in all skills including the ones responsible for health and healing effectively making him ageless.

  Dave pulled out what looked like a cross between a motorhome and a tank. "we'll ride in this I don't wanna spend much time on the sand." the sand itself was not overly dangerous aside from being uniformly spherical, however, it did conduct the life draining spell. the two were too stunned to utter a word.

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