_*]:min-w-0 !gap-3.5" style="border:0px solid">The first signs of civilization appeared like a mirage—palm trees swaying gently against the endless blue sky, the promise of water and shade after days in the merciless desert. This time, however, the oasis wasn't a trick of light and desperate hope. It was real.

  "We made it," Riva breathed, her usual bravado softened by genuine relief.

  As they approached the settlement nestled within the green sanctuary, Alexander noticed something unusual. The sand beneath their feet occasionally gave way to smooth, gssy patches—perfectly ft surfaces that reflected the sunlight like mirrors.

  He crouched down, running his fingers over one such formation. "Gss," he confirmed. "The sand was superheated until it melted."

  Lyra joined him, examining the unusual formation with practiced precision. "Natural gss forms at temperatures exceeding 1700 degrees Celsius," she noted. "Desert fires don't get nearly that hot."

  "Look," Elijah pointed toward a rger formation ahead. Unlike the random patches they'd been crossing, this one had a distinct shape—a massive footprint nearly two meters long, perfectly preserved in gss.

  "That's... not encouraging," Riva said, measuring her own foot against the enormous impression.

  Alexander studied the footprint carefully, noting its depth and surrounding stress patterns in the sand. "Whatever made this is massive. And the gss formation suggests it generates or controls extreme heat."

  Valeria, who had been scanning the horizon, spoke up. "There are more. They form a pattern." She pointed to another gss formation barely visible in the distance, then another.

  "Let's get to the settlement," Alexander decided. "We need information."

  The oasis settlement—Gsshaven, according to the weathered wooden sign at its entrance—proved to be a surprisingly robust community. Buildings constructed from mud brick and salvaged materials clustered around a central water source, with gardens and small agricultural plots tended by residents of various social origins.

  Their arrival drew curious stares but not outright hostility. Desert survival created a certain fraternity, even among strangers.

  An elderly woman approached them, her deeply tanned skin wrinkled from years under the harsh sun. "New arrivals," she observed. "And still walking. You've done better than most."

  "We encountered some challenges," Alexander acknowledged diplomatically.

  The woman snorted. "Challenges. That's one way to put it." She gnced at their equipment, noting Lyra's modified devices and their desert-adapted weapons. "You might survive after all. If the Titan allows it."

  "The Titan?" Elijah asked.

  A shadow seemed to pass over the woman's face. "The Dune Titan. Floor guardian, we call it. Made of sand and fire, leaves nothing but gss and ash behind."

  She gestured toward a structure at the settlement's center. "Rest, get water. You'll hear plenty about the Titan soon enough. Everyone here has a story."

  By evening, the team had secured modest accommodations and begun their systematic information gathering. Alexander set out to document the gss formations surrounding the settlement, mapping their distribution to understand potential attack patterns.

  "The footprints form concentric circles," he expined when they regrouped, unrolling a hand-drawn map on their shared table. "As if it patrols specific boundaries. The oldest formations are almost completely reburied by sand, suggesting it appears at regur intervals."

  Elijah had spent the afternoon with the settlement's healers, examining injuries unique to this region.

  "Burns unlike anything I've seen before," he reported. "The heat is so intense it cauterizes instantly, preventing normal healing processes. And there's something else—the healers mentioned gss fragments embedded in wounds, as if the sand fuses during impact."

  "That tracks with what I'm seeing," Lyra added, looking up from a series of small experiments she'd been conducting. "Our standard equipment won't withstand those temperatures. The metal would warp or melt entirely."

  She demonstrated by exposing one of her test materials to focused sunlight through a lens arrangement. The metal discolored rapidly. "We need specialized heat shielding. I've been working on some prototypes using materials avaible here."

  Riva had spent her time differently—observing smaller sand entities that occasionally formed around the settlement's perimeter.

  "They're like miniature versions of what the locals describe," she expined. "Sand pulls together into roughly humanoid shapes, moves around for a while, then colpses. No real intelligence to them, but good for practice."

  She demonstrated a modified targeting technique she'd been developing. "The forms are strongest at juncture points—where limbs connect to the torso, or the head to the shoulders. Hit those points, and the whole thing destabilizes."

  Valeria, as usual, had remained in the background, but her contribution proved valuable nonetheless. "The locals speak of a cycle," she reported. "The Titan emerges most often when new skilled pyers arrive, as if testing their worthiness. They believe it's drawn to combat potential."

  Alexander absorbed all this information, mentally constructing preliminary strategies. "So we're dealing with a sand-based entity that generates extreme heat, follows predictable patrol patterns, and seems to emerge specifically to challenge skilled pyers."

  "That's not all," Elijah added, his expression troubled. "The healers mentioned something else. The whispers get louder just before the Titan appears. Many residents hear them, not just me."

  The implications of this statement hung in the air between them. Before anyone could respond, a wizened old man approached their table, moving with the deliberate care of great age.

  "You speak of the Titan," he said without preamble. "I hear your questions throughout the settlement."

  Alexander gestured to an empty chair. "Any information would be appreciated."

  The old man—introducing himself simply as Sage—settled into the offered seat. "The Titan is not merely sand and heat," he began, his voice carrying the weight of personal experience. "It is the desert's judgment made manifest."

  Riva barely suppressed an eye roll at the dramatic description, but Alexander motioned for her to listen.

  "I have faced it twice," the Sage continued, pulling aside his colr to reveal a horrific burn scar across his shoulder and chest. "It cannot be defeated through strength alone. The heart of gss within sand—that is its weakness."

  "Heart of gss?" Lyra questioned.

  The old man nodded. "At its core, a perfect crystal. The source of its heat and power. Nearly impossible to reach, but strike it true, and the Titan falls."

  After sharing what little concrete information he possessed—primarily about the Titan's attack patterns and approximate dimensions—the Sage departed, leaving them with more questions than answers.

  The next morning, Alexander led the team to the gss footprint field they'd discovered upon arrival. With daylight providing better visibility, they conducted a thorough examination of the formations.

  "Look at the directional force," Alexander pointed out, indicating how the gss was thicker at one end of each footprint. "It steps forward with tremendous power, driving downward and forward simultaneously."

  Lyra collected samples of the gss, examining their composition. "The consistency suggests precise temperature control, not random heat. It's maintaining exactly the heat needed to vitrify sand, no more."

  "Intelligence," Alexander noted. "Not just raw power."

  They spent the day methodically studying the evidence, with Lyra beginning work on heat-resistant modifications to their equipment using materials purchased or traded for in the settlement.

  "A yered approach should work best," she expined, demonstrating a prototype shield facing she'd developed. "Multiple materials with air gaps between them to dissipate heat through staged transfer."

  Riva continued her practice against the minor sand manifestations, refining her targeting technique. "They're getting more common," she noted with concern. "There were three times as many today as yesterday."

  Elijah confirmed this observation. "The whispers are getting louder too. Something's changing."

  On their third day at the settlement, the evidence became impossible to ignore. New gss formations appeared overnight, closer to the settlement than any previous markings. The smaller sand manifestations had increased dramatically, and a nervous energy pervaded the community.

  "It's coming," a local trader told them bluntly as they purchased final supplies. "The Titan always visits when skilled fighters arrive. Tests them, it does. Some pass. Most don't."

  Alexander accelerated their preparation timeline. "Lyra, status on the equipment modifications?"

  "Completed emergency heat shielding for our primary weapons and basic protection gear," she reported. "Still working on the specialized cooling systems for prolonged exposure."

  "Prioritize mobility over complete protection," he decided. "Based on the footprint patterns, this thing hits hard but might be avoided with proper positioning."

  Elijah had prepared specialized treatment kits for burn injuries and crystalline fragment removal. "I've also developed a cooling protocol based on local healer techniques," he added. "Should help if any of us suffer heat exposure."

  Riva demonstrated her refined targeting technique, now capable of dismantling the minor sand manifestations with three precisely pced strikes. "Hit the junctures, disrupt the flow, then strike at its densest point," she expined. "The sand loses cohesion and colpses."

  Valeria contributed tactical positioning diagrams based on witness accounts of previous encounters. "The Titan typically emerges from the rgest dunes," she noted. "And returns to them when weakened."

  That evening, a tremor ran through the settlement as a distant dune appeared to shift position slightly. Residents hurried indoors, securing water reserves and pulling shutters closed.

  Alexander gathered the team for final preparations. Equipment was checked, roles confirmed, and contingencies established. Their desert journey had prepared them well for this confrontation—heat adaptations, sand navigation, and resource management would all prove crucial.

  As night fell, the whispers Elijah heard grew to an unprecedented volume, no longer single voices but a chorus of warnings and fragments of advice. For the first time, he noticed others in the settlement reacting to sounds only he had previously acknowledged hearing.

  "Tomorrow," he said with unusual certainty. "It's coming tomorrow."

  Alexander nodded, surveying their preparations with measured confidence. "Then we'll be ready."

  He looked at each team member in turn—Elijah with his medical supplies and growing connection to the mysterious whispers; Lyra with her brilliantly adapted equipment and analytical mind; Riva with her newly efficient combat style perfectly suited to the desert's demands; even Valeria, contributing her specialized knowledge while maintaining her careful distance.

  The desert had challenged them with thirst, heat, illusion, and predators. Now it would test them with its ultimate guardian. But they were no longer the same people who had entered Floor 11. They had been transformed by the desert, adapting to its harsh lessons and emerging stronger.

  As they made their final preparations, Alexander realized something important—they weren't just ready to face the Dune Titan. In a fundamental way, they had become worthy of the challenge.