"Vasari over here! You made it just in time, dude."
DT called out to Vasari when he spotted the one-of-a-kind Black Cloud Pegasus. Both boys were left speechless when an entire squadron consisting of 4 large wolves and a rare Thunderbird followed behind him.
"DT, Jaxon. I thought more disciples would be here by now." Vasari jumped off Otis and made his way to his friends.
"They should be getting here soon. The time of departure is in 20 minutes." Jaxon said while looking at a fancy watch on his wrist.
"Who are these girls?" DT asked when he noticed three girls following behind Vasari. He first thought they were disciples of the sect, but after seeing them wearing casual clothes and not the Sect's robes, he got confused.
Vasari introduced Hiromi, Kurumi and Hozumi to the boys before they introduced themselves.
"I'm Jaxon Ellis, a good friend of Vasari. It's nice to meet you." Being raised in a middle-class noble household, Jaxon was taught proper manners and etiquette.
DT however…
"The names Thornton. Davion Thornton, but you can call me DT." He introduced and shot a wink at Kurumi, who struggled to keep herself from giggling.
Vasari shook his head before turning his attention to the wolf cubs. "Until we leave, sit still and behave. Don't cause any trouble."
The wolves simultaneously sat and nodded at Vasari with their tongues hanging out their mouths, still recovering from their long run.
A few minutes passed and some disciples started arriving. Those who knew each other beforehand formed their own circles and not much socialising happened.
When 10 minutes passed, a total of 22 disciples stood near the Cloud Port.
Vasari and his friends were just minding their business when a tall man standing around 190cm tall approached them. His skin was a light brown colour, his eyes were dark and he had thick dreadlocks tied back with a red bandana. He wore white Sect robes indicating he was an Outer Haven disciple, but on his sleeve was a badge of a black panther and it under it was the number 49.
"Bringing servants on a mission. I don't know whether you're a badass or a horny idiot."
Hearing a foreign voice come from behind him, Vasari turned around to face the man approaching them.
"Are you talking to me?" Vasari pointed to himself with his eyebrows raised in confusion.
"Oh, you're blind huh? Man, that must suck." The guy mocked while waving his hand in front of Vasari's face. "Well, I just came over to see who the new faces were. Figures, it's just some nobodies who recently graduated from the Cloud School." The man said with false disappointment and before walking away, he glanced at Hiromi and Kurumi with a cocky smirk.
Vasari 'watched' the man walk away with a single eyebrow raised in confusion.
"What is this guy's problem? What was the point of him coming here?"
He asked out loud to no one in particular but it was Jaxon who answered his question.
"That guy is Dontrall Morton. Ranked 49th on the Outer Haven Disciple leaderboards and a member of the Chaos Predators faction, the same one Jude is in. The Chaos Predators have a notorious reputation for having members who enjoy stealing the women from other disciples."
"What the hell. Do they recruit members based on their fetish or something? I hope Jude doesn't secretly have that fetish, if I ever do get a girlfriend I'm for sure not introducing her to him now that I know this."
DT scrunched up his face in disgust. He couldn't understand why you would want to have sex with another man's wife when there are so many single women out there. He guessed it was most likely an ego-lifter type of mentality.
Vasari wanted to say something about that as well until he remembered a certain puerile milf who he told to break up with her husband or he would steal her from him. He would be a hypocrite if he joined in on mocking them on their fetishes.
"Vasari, what do you think about their fetishes?" Hiromi asked innocently, her head slightly tilted to the side.
'This girl…'
"I-" As Vasari was about to speak, an Outer Haven Elder appeared above the group of disciples, his voice instantly catching their attention.
"Everybody get ready to depart. The leaders of this mission will be Dontrall Morton and Chelsea Kagan. If you don't have a mount, the sect will provide you with one for the mission."
The Elder announced and a Colossal Roc descended from the sky and landed on the ground. Not wanting to waste more of his time, the Elder flew away and left the disciples to sort themselves out.
"Okay everyone, mount your beasts and if you don't have one, get on the Colossal Roc." A beautiful young woman with bright red hair took the lead after the Elder left and it was safe to assume that she was Chelsea Kagan.
"Holy…"
"…Shit."
DT and Jaxon were left drooling at the sight of her curvy body that even the Sect robes failed to conceal.
"DT she's mine. Don't even try, I will fight you, bro." Jaxon claimed dibs and turned to face DT with a deadly serious look.
"Tsk whatever man. I bet you're too scared to even approach her."
"Oh yeah? Watch me." Feeling like his manliness was being challenged, Jaxon strode towards the redheaded bombshell with confident strides.
"Excuse me, Miss Chelsea," Jaxon spoke up when he was a few metres away from Chelsea. The leader of the mission turned around and only then did Jaxon notice that she was taller than him by a few centimetres.
"Yes?"
"U-uh-uhm, w-what I-I mean where will we be heading?"
Chelsea looked at the young man struggling to speak in front of her with an indifferent gaze.
"We're about to leave, so don't waste my time and get ready to leave."
"A-ah yes, my apologies." Jaxon bowed before running up the Colossal Roc in embarrassment.
"Bwaaahahahhaha! That idiot blew it." DT laughed his ass off from the side. Tears were falling down his cheeks and his stomach was cramping from laughing.
"Baldy, get on the mount otherwise we are leaving without you!"
DT ceased his laughter when he heard the redhead beauty shout at him and rushed to board the mount.
Chelsea scanned the group of disciples to confirm that everyone was ready, however, her attention was caught by four wolves who were casually sitting with their tongues hanging out their mouths.
"Whose mounts are those? Are there four disciples missing?"
"Vasari, she's talking about the cubs," Kurumi whispered into his ears from behind.
"Oh, thanks." He whispered back before putting up his hand. "They're mine and they are not mounts."
Chelsea lifted her brows when she saw Vasari and her gaze lingered on his body a little longer than it should've been.
"I see. Very well, now that everyone is ready, follow me." Chelsea jumped on her mount, a red tiger with yellow stripes, and led the group through the Cloud ports until they reached a massive structure.
It looked like a large carbon fibre doorframe without the door. It was 100 metres in height and had a width of 40 metres.
"Activate the Void Gate!" Dontrall Morton shouted into the air and a second later a loud whirling sound filled the surroundings and the space between the frames lit up in a beautiful mixture of purple, violet, blue and yellow light.
The Nakata girls, DT, Jaxon and the cubs were left in awe by its beauty but Otis and the other disciples didn't pay it another glance before ordering their mounts to walk through it.
To them, it signified potential death. Not one of them hasn't experienced a friend or family member that's died from trying to complete a mission after passing through that very gate. However, this wasn't enough to deter them from performing missions and earning Cloud Points. They were cultivators, every near-death experience made them stronger and brought them closer to their goals.
When Otis walked through the Void Gate, Vasari felt an energy similar yet different to the energy he felt from a spatial portal. It was more profound and harder to comprehend, but it felt oddly intimate, like a close cousin who treats you like a sibling.
*Vvwoosh!*
One by one the disciples suddenly appeared in a large opening surrounded by dense forestation.
Chelsea once again scanned the group and when she was sure that nobody was left behind, she nodded before speaking up.
"The mission officially starts now. We will be heading to a town called Grimdale. It's more or less a 5-day journey from our current location. We will be travelling through the Westernord Continent so there is a possibility of running into powerful beasts or disciples from other sects. Ignore them. We are here to complete our mission and only that. Don't get distracted."
Chelsea informed the disciples and reminded them about their mission details. When she was finished with what she wanted to say, Chelsea looked at Dontrall who shook his head indicating he had nothing to say and then ordered the disciples to follow her as she set out.
The flying mounts took to the air while the land mounts followed behind the red and yellow tiger.
Vasari told Otis to stay on the ground so that he could keep an eye on the cubs lest they get lost along the way.
The disciples travelled for 16 hours before they came across a small town. Chelsea ordered the group to stop there to take a break for the night and head out in the morning.