Vol 2 Chapter 40: Misty Mountains
Chapter 40: Mist Shadow Mountain 8
Misty Mountain
Sylutia walked through the cold, misty mountainside, her Black Ebony Compound Bow in hand, alongside her companions.
The water mist here never dispersed all year round, and it rged with the Shadow World. They occasionally stepped into areas with color, only to walk into gray-white zones again. This alternating sensation was quite uncomfortable.
After entering the mountains, everyone beca noticeably more vigilant, speaking much less. When soone did speak, it was definitely because they had discovered sothing.
"Yan, how far can you see now?" The captain asked from the front without turning his head.
"About sixteen ters. Anything beyond that gets a bit blurry."
"I'm slightly better, I can see about twenty ters," Karl added from behind.
"Probably because Karl, as a wizard, has stronger ntal power," Bad Apple simply assessed.
"I can see about fifty ters. That's because I'm of the 'Mist Shadow' Aspect myself, gaining perception within the mist."
"What about Tia?" The group's focus shifted to the young girl in their team.
"About two hundred ters or more," Sylutia thought for a mont before answering. This was her normal visual range. If she fully expanded her Nature Perception and added the assistance of her alien star perception, she should be able to see a distance of four hundred ters.
*Whew.* Hearing this, everyone breathed a slight sigh of relief.
To be honest, not long after stepping into this place, the group had felt sothing was wrong. The compression of their visual and sensory range was simply too severe.
If soone like Yan ca here, they could only perceive their surroundings within sixteen ters. They would be extrely vulnerable to ambushes by unknown monsters and would have to maintain a high level of concentration at all tis. Furthermore, if teammates strayed even a little too far, it was easy to get separated. In these mist-shrouded mountains, that was almost a death sentence.
"Sothing's coming," Sylutia said softly, her gaze fixed ahead.
Hearing her warning, the group stopped, moved closer together, and prepared for battle.
In the mist-encircled mountainside, two creatures with snow-gray fur sniffed at the faint scent carried on the air, moving swiftly. Their forms resembled foxes but were much more slender. Their movents were utterly silent. On each side, they had three blood-red eyes, making six eyes in total, which was particularly eerie.
As they darted through the mist-colored grass and reached a point about fifty ters from the group, it was as if they had already spotted the people. Their figures flickered and then dissipated like ice cubes sinking into water, their outlines vanishing. Now, not to ntion the other team mbers, even Sylutia, pushing her Discernnt Eyes to the limit, could only detect constantly shifting, blurry outlines.
"Careful, they've turned invisible."
These words made everyone's hearts tighten again.
Nocking an arrow, drawing the bowstring, Sylutia focused her spirit and held her breath, aiming before releasing the shot.
A slight vibration of the bowstring, and the arrow pierced through the mist, striking the outline of one monster, drawing a faint trail of blood.
The attack caused the approaching creature to pause, then rapidly turn and retreat back into the mist, fleeing.
So cautious and cunning? Retreating imdiately after just a little injury, refusing to get any closer, Sylutia thought.
Faced with this situation, her feelings were mixed.
She was glad they could avoid a dangerous fight, but worried because these two monsters were so intelligent. Who knew what trouble they might bring later?
Afterwards, the group resud their forward progress until they passed the spot where the two monsters had been injured.
Bad Apple crouched down, carefully examining the fresh bloodstains on the grass blades. He dipped a finger in, tasting a bit.
"There's a faint 'Mist Shadow' aura. They should be Second Tier 'Mist Shadow' Aspect monsters," he said, standing up.
"The good news is they're only Second Tier. The bad news is, I don't know their origins either, and I can't even guarantee we can win." He felt the pressure mounting.
"Let's keep moving for now. If the situation seems wrong in the coming days, we'll light the Dawn Wind torches and retreat quickly."
They were already here. It would be a real sha to turn back at the first sign of trouble. With this thought, the team continued onward.
In the afternoon, as the light gradually dimd, Sylutia used her fingers to part the damp leaves of a shrub, finding several small, dark blue fruits within.
'Cyan Blue Berries', berries imbued with 'Slumbering Winter' aura, quality Superior.
Although they hadn't yet condensed an Aspect, they were still relatively rare and precious. They could be used to fernt and brew a specialized 'Cold Dew Wine', useful for learning 'Slumbering Winter' Aspect abilities.
Sylutia carefully picked over thirty berries from the shrubbery, placing them in a cloth-padded box. She then hung the box inside a leather saddlebag on the horse's back.
"Let's keep going," she said, standing up and glancing at the three waiting n.
"Alrighty," Bad Apple said, hopping down from the branch he was squatting on, then taking the lead once more.
Later on the road, they encountered many more minor troubles: white venomous snakes in the grass, strange insects occasionally flying low overhead, and odd pits that appeared on the path at unknown tis.
"There are two more pits ahead. Let's go around," Sylutia advised, looking at the grass that blended perfectly with the environnt within her vision.
"Sigh, another detour? What exactly is it that we can't even touch?" Bad Apple was sowhat curious.
"I don't know what it is either, but I can sense strange living creature auras lying in ambush beneath the pits," the girl explained.
"How about this ti, we prepare ourselves and just face it? If we keep avoiding them, not knowing the specifics isn't good either," Yan suggested.
After listening, Bad Apple shook his head. "I think it's better to listen to Tia. No need to take unnecessary risks."
"Of course, I understand your thinking, Yan. You always seek stability, wanting to be prepared for future encounters."
"How about this: next ti we encounter just one, we'll go check it out."
"That works too," Karl nodded from behind.
About two hours later, they ca across a similar pit again. This ti, there was only one.
After hearing Sylutia describe the specific location, Bad Apple looked at the other two mbers.
"Well? How about we give it a try this ti? We'll all be careful."
"Then I'll walk in front," Yan said, raising his shield slightly.
"Alright, be careful," Bad Apple nodded.
"Wait a mont," Sylutia rembered sothing. She went to the black horse behind them, retrieved so of the high-quality food stored in the pack, and took several cold flatbreads into her hands. She used the 'Baking thod' to heat them slightly before handing them to Yan and the others.
[Roast at Pie] (Superior);
Made with high-quality venison and Rare flour ingredients. Its quality slightly declines after cooling. Can replenish nutrients, restore stamina, and accelerate blood circulation. (Stamina Recovery
2, Blood Circulation
1)
After receiving them, everyone ate the pies with a sense of novelty, then waited for the food's effects to take hold.
"This feeling is a bit strange. Before, we never knew when we'd encounter enemies, so we always ate afterwards."
"But doing it this way does indeed raise our overall combat power considerably," Yan said, licking the residue crumbs from the corner of his mouth, seeming to want more.
"Alright, food's done. Ti to work."
Afterwards, Yan walked ahead. Bad Apple circled to the side, ready to provide support at any mont. Sylutia stood at the back, gripping her bow and aiming, prepared to offer ranged support. Karl stood not far from Sylutia, also holding spellcasting materials, ready for various preparations.
Following Sylutia's indicated location, Yan held his shield before him, slowly approaching. He then stopped and threw a stone into the camouflaged grass.
The stone pressed into the grass leaves, hitting the monster within the pit. A sharp screech rang out, followed by a gray-white figure leaping out rapidly. Yan didn't even have ti to see what it was clearly before it pounced on him.
Sharp forelimbs hooked, pulled, and scraped across the shield, leaving deep scratches. An ordinary person would have been torn open, even dismbered, by this attack.
Facing the biting chelicerae, Yan pushed against his shield with all his might, preventing the black fangs from piercing through. At this mont, the others finally saw clearly what the ambushing creature was.
Its form was similar to a spider, but both pairs of forelimbs were as sharp as knife points. Its body was covered in snow-white down, which greatly reduced the sound of its movents. After attacking, several pairs of black eyes of varying sizes fixed on Yan, and the mouthparts beneath its chelicerae emitted fierce, hissing shrieks.
[Snowdown Trapdoor Spider] (Second Tier · Mist Shadow): A burrowing spider that lives underground. Utterly silent when lying in ambush, extrely swift when launching an attack. Ordinary creatures find it difficult to detect and defend against.
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