"Gather around," yelled Colonel Xino as he looked at the approaching mist. Two days ago, the mist barely reached the Gyson Province. But now, it has travelled all the way to Yemana village. This was not really a surprise to him. It was only to be expected as the mist did make its way to Yemana three years ago. Although the mist spread very quickly, he knew that its speed would now slow down drastically. That is why those from this village have been evacuated last week. But, this did not make it much easier to deal with. The creatures hidden in the mist evolved much faster than humans can. Fuelled by the mist, they did not have to worry about training scrolls, hours and hours of practice and the shitty politics of the Fanshek continent.
Right now, the task of Colonel Xino is information gathering. Every day, he has to send reports back to the main squad about the changes in the mist and whether any new creatures have appeared. As he saw his squad slowly gathering around him, Colonel Xino used amplifying magic to make himself sound louder.
"Although, the apparition of the mist is weird and strange, remember that the way the mist operates is actually quite logical. It appeared every three years since the last 106 years. It quickly travels to the stage it reached three years ago and then comes to a temporary halt. Then, for three days, only low levels mist creatures have been recorded to appear. We are currently at this stage. During the next two days, we will look for changes in the way the mist operates while clearing out low level mist mistborns. We will leave on the third day and meet up with main squad near Trochelo river. On the fourth day, the mist will begin expanding again. The experts at The Royal College of Magic have determined that the mist usual one month pause will be at Trochelo river this year. There, we will engage with higher level mistborns. Now, start your duties and don't adventure too far in the mist. Always expect the unexpected!"
"Yes, Colonel!" exclaimed the group of thirty soldiers as they began their tasks. Some set up tents while some went into the light mist as they knew they had nothing to fear at this point. Most of them were on the verge of reaching one star while the rest were one star warriors. Colonel Xino is a 9 star warrior and is more than capable of handling a small group of intermediate mistborns on his own.
His senses were on high alert and he felt ready to step in and defend his squad if anything were to happen. However, despite being extremely strong and fast, even he could not predict and defend against what was about to happen.
After observing for a couple of hours, he suddenly felt a change in the mist. It was as if the air suddenly got colder and more sinister.
"Get ready, the first wave is coming", yelled the Colonel.
And soon enough, some low level mistborns materialized from the mist and jumped on the soldiers who went into the light mist. Colonel Xino didn't help them any further as they could use this as an opportunity to practice. He would only step in if the situation got too dangerous.
The low level mist creatures were simple looking. Like all mist creatures, they were all extremely pale. Some of them looked like giant dogs with huge horns coming out of their foreheads. Some were giant flying creatures with sharp claws and teeth. Some just looked like a mixture of different creatures; like a combination of different deformed animals.
The soldiers were ready. Most of them were the top graduates from some of the best military schools in the continent. As soon as the mist creatures showed themselves, they got into formation. From this point on, one could see fire, water, lighting, earth and wind being used to fight against those vicious creatures.
Fire Strike!
Water Tornado!
Mud Wall!
Lightning Stream!
Wind Barrier!
Those were only some of the skills this strong group of soldiers used to defeat the mistborns.
Colonel Xino had his eyes on one soldier in particular. He was only eighteen years of age and yet, he already mastered two different elemental attributes; fire and lightning. He watched this young soldier as he used his fire attribute to propel himself in the air and used his lightning release to instantly annihilate four Skilliets. They let out a sharp piercing cry and immediately fell down. Colonel Xino was impressed with the skills of this fresh graduate and so were the other soldiers. However, this young soldier wasted no time. While still being in the air, he used his fire attribute to propel himself forward. He charged up lightning in both hands and used an even stronger lighting stream to finish off a dozen of mist creatures at once. The other soldiers could not help but be amazed at his performance and exceptional combat abilities. As soon as he fell down, he activated sprint to dash forward at an incredible speed. He removed his two daggers from his waistband and slayed dozens of mistborns. His attacks resembled a graceful yet terrifying dance as he precisely killed each monster with a single strike. He enhanced his body with lightning to move at an incredible speed and to make his attacks sharper.
Inspired by Adrian, the other soldiers fought even harder to get the attention of Colonel Xino. In less than an hour, the first wave of low level mistborns had been wiped out. The soldiers let out shouts of victory. Some went back to the tents to heal while the rest continued to monitor the surroundings. Then, they rotated so that everyone could rest.
Nothing more happened for the rest of the day and night. This was surprising as mist creatures get stronger at night.
The soldiers had a good night rest.