"Repair"

This time, the winds in this desert seemed more turbulent than ever before.

Disorderly gusts swept time and again across the dunes strewn with jagged rocks, sending sand and dust spiraling dozens of meters into the air. Far away, an enormous earth-yellow "barrier" was gradually rising into the sky—a greater storm was brewing within it, as though gathering enough power to sweep across the entire world.

Yet all that ceaselessly churning sand and wind came to an abrupt halt several meters away from Vana and the giant. The airborne dust swirled around them, like a scene within the eye of a storm.

Vana was the first to notice the change in their surroundings. She stared in astonishment at the restless sandstorm in the distance, especially at the earth-yellow tempest far beyond, like a towering barrier reaching into the heavens as it slowly rose from the ground. Having never seen such a sight before, she immediately felt uneasy. "What is that?"

The aged giant in tattered robes lowered his head and looked gently into Vana's eyes. "A storm, traveler. A storm you raised with your own hands."

"A storm I raised?" Vana froze, staring at the giant in disbelief. "When did I..."

"Not yet, but soon—time has begun to flow once more, traveler. It is flowing in every direction. Can you feel it? This world is changing... After such a long stagnation, this stone buried and imprisoned beneath the sand will finally begin rolling again."

Vana listened in a daze as the giant suddenly muttered these baffling words to her. She connected something from his vague remarks, but before she could ask, the giant waved a hand at her. "Don't ask too much, traveler. This place is finally approaching its end. The more you learn about it now, the more inseparably