The transition through the elental Stargate into the Taiji Basin was more disorienting than previous dinsional shifts.
It felt like being frozen, burned, and shocked all at once, then softly patted on the head by a confused spirit.
When Daniel’s vision cleared, he was in a place with constant twilight. The air was cool and slled like wet earth, glowing fungi, and sothing ancient and wild.
He was in the Yin region, the "dark side" of the Taiji Basin.
Tall, dark mountains stood far away, their tops hidden in mist that swallowed the light.
The ground was covered in soft black moss, and huge twisted trees with dark shiny bark reached up to a deep blue-purple sky filled with stars that glowed with a cold, ghostly light.
Lia and Ayra materialized beside him a mont later, looking slightly disoriented but otherwise unhard.
They also had their Yin cards. Around them, other teams with Yin cards appeared, looking amazed by the strange land but also worried because they felt the strong ancient power in the Yin area.
"Well," Ayra grunted, shaking her head as if to clear lingering teleportation fuzziness.
Lia, unlike the others, seed energized by the dark energy. Her grey eyes studied the strange plants and the faint energy in the air.
"The Yin energy here is... potent," she murmured, her Verdant Lifespring Staff-Sword glowing faintly in response. "But it feels... heavy. Unsettling."
Daniel consulted the map data on his Nexus Interface. Their designated starting zone was a relatively open clearing at the edge of a vast, dark forest that stretched towards the central S-shaped mountain range separating the Yin and Yang regions.
"Objective one: find so Yang cards," he stated. "According to the intel, beasts in the Yin region have a chance to drop Yin cards, and occasionally, if we’re lucky or they’ve wandered over, Yang cards from defeated intruders.
But our best bet for a consistent supply of Yang cards is to head towards the Yang region itself, or find other teams willing to ’trade’."
He emphasized the word ’trade’ with a wry smile.
Many of the newly arrived Yin-carded teams were already congregating, discussing strategies.
The prevailing wisdom seed to be forming a large, collective group for safety, planning to sweep through the Yin region together and then negotiate card distribution later, likely based on strength or contribution, a recipe for internal conflict if Daniel had ever heard one.
Lia looked towards the large group, then back at Daniel. "They seem to believe there’s safety in numbers. Perhaps we should...?"
Daniel shook his head. "No. A large group is slow, noisy, and attracts too much attention, both from beasts and other, less friendly, aspirants.
We’re a scalpel, not a sledgehamr. We move fast, strike hard, and pick our battles.
Besides," he added, "distributing loot and credit in a group that size is a nightmare. Soone always feels cheated."
Ayra snorted in agreent. "Sledgehamrs are my specialty, Vance, but even I know when to use a scalpel.
Mostly when the sledgehamr runs out of things to smash. Lead on. I’m getting an itch to test my axe on sothing that bleeds shadow-stuff."
"Patience, Ayra," Daniel cautioned. "First, survey." He closed his eyes for a mont, focusing his [Aura Sense ].
The Yin energy here was indeed dense, making his senses feel slightly muted compared to the clean energy of the Spire, but he could still perceive.
He sensed many small creatures moving in the undergrowth, larger beasts resting deeper in the forest, and the tense, grouped presence of the other recruit teams.
No imdiate, overwhelming threats nearby.
He then turned to Nyx, who was peeking out of his pouch, with curiosity, sniffing the strange new air.
"Alright, girl," he whispered, "ti for your first real scouting mission.
Stick to the shadows, stay high, and let know if you see anything big, nasty, or carrying a shiny Yang card."
He activated his Familiar Bond, sending a clear directive. Nyx yipped softly in understanding, then with a surprising burst of shadowy agility, leaped from his pouch, scrambled up the nearest colossal tree, and vanished into the dark canopy like a wisp of smoke.
Her B-Grade potential and latent Shadow Affinity were already proving useful.
With Nyx scouting from above, Daniel turned to his human teammates.
"Lia, you’ll be our rearguard and support. Keep an eye on our flanks, and be ready with that [Lifewell Pulse] if we run into anything that likes to debuff.
Ayra, you’re up. Try to keep the damage low until we know what we’re dealing with.
I’ll take the middle, coordinate, and provide ranged support or close-quarters backup as needed."
They moved out, leaving the larger congregation of recruits behind, lting into the creepy twilight of the Dark Forest.
Daniel moved with [Ghoststeps ], a near-invisible phantom.
Ayra, despite her bulk and the unseen weight of her axe, moved with a surprising predatory grace, her S-Grade Berserker senses already alert.
Lia followed silently, her staff held ready, her calm presence a counterpoint to Ayra’s simring intensity.
They traveled for about an hour, with Nyx occasionally sharing faint ntal images: a shadowy, insect-like creature, a patch of glowing fungi, and a distant flash that could be another recruit team moving quietly.
Daniel relayed the information, adjusting their path to avoid unnecessary encounters.
His goal wasn’t just to find Yang cards; it was to understand this new environnt, to learn its rhythms and its dangers.
Then Ayra, ever impatient, broke formation.
"This sneaking around is boring, Vance!" she declared, her voice a low growl.
"I ca here to fight, not to play hide-and-seek with glowing mushrooms!
I’m going to find sothing to hit!"
Before Daniel could stop her, she veered off their path, charging deeper into a particularly dark and tangled section of the forest, the faint sounds of her crashing through the undergrowth quickly fading.
Daniel sighed. "So much for coordinated strategy."
Lia shook her head, a small, resigned smile on her face.
"Her talent is [Primal Fury Berserker], Daniel. Subtlety is not her strong suit. She feels the call of battle."
"Yeah, well, the call of battle often leads to the answering machine of ’you are dead, please leave a ssage after the horrible crunching sound’," Daniel retorted.
"Stay alert. She’s strong, but recklessness in a place like this gets you assimilated. Or worse, forces to do the assimilating after soone else gets her killed."
He pushed his [Aura Sense ] to its limits, trying to track Ayra’s rapidly receding, furious energy signature, while also keeping an eye out for other threats.
He also sent a ntal query to Nyx, asking her to try and keep an eye on their wayward berserker from the canopy.
A few minutes later, just as Daniel was about to go after Ayra and drag her back by her spiky red hair, Nyx sent a frantic image: Ayra, axe out and as fierce as her reputation, surrounded by panther-like shadow creatures with glowing red eyes.
And one of them, a larger Alpha, had a faint, golden shimr around its neck, a Yang card!
"Trouble," Daniel said grimly to Lia. "And opportunity. Looks like Ayra found her fight.
Let’s go make sure she doesn’t beco the main course."
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