"Greetings lady Diamond, we are here to ask young master Pure about something." Aranold politely greets her; the two of them are actually quite close, as they always spar during the daytime when he is taking a sparring mission.
"We no longer need to bother brother Pure." Suddenly, Leon says something surprising, startling his friend.
"Diamond, do you want to come with us? We are going to go to Nightmare Valley." Diamond is taken by surprise by his request; she knows just how terrifying the forbidden grounds are, especially places like Nightmare Valley, where all the entities living there are hostile to outsiders.
"If someone else had asked me this, I would have punched them in the face already, but since it is you, young master Oriend, I do not mind joining your group." Without hesitation, she agreed to come.
Leon shakes his head.
"Do not call me that; it feels strange; just call me Cleo. I know that your race is quite strict about this, but do not worry about it; I am not a Golden Monk, so you do not need to follow such strict rules around me."
Diamond nods her head but is actually quite uncomfortable calling Leon so informally. It is because she respects Pure very much, and she also feels indebted to him after successfully leading her to a breakthrough after his lecture.
The three of them went into the entrance of the Nightmare Valley. Aranold is carrying almost all of their items; his reason for this is that he is the main reason for this dangerous journey; he should at least be their porter.
Just as they enter the place, a gust of wind freezes both Leon and Diamond. Aranold is fine, as his bloodline has activated to help repel the strange wind.
"F*ck! Even just a gust of wind carries such dense yin energy!" Leon is shocked by this encounter, but he quickly realises that this is a great opportunity for the three of them.
"Let us first adapt to these yin winds; I can use this to loosen my bottleneck; Diamond, you can use this negative energy to actually train your body tempering technique; and Aranold, oh, it seems that you have already started."
Aranold is now dancing in a strange rhythm; his breathing is in sync with his dance; this is one of their clan's unique body-tempering techniques.
Diamond's body starts to glow brightly, her light is golden, and her appearance is growing similar to that of the Golden Monks. She might obtain her temper from her father's race, but she has the same appearance as her mother, making her look more similar to that of the human race than the Golden Monk race.
It takes the three of them an entire hour for their bodies to adapt to the cold and negative yin energy being released inside the valley.
"Cleo, your images have a couple of changes in their appearance; their appearance is actually turning more devilish rather than beastial." Aranold quickly informs him, still unable to see the two images that he conjures.
"Hmm, that would be bad; it seems that I can only train the tiger part in order to not harm my foundation." Realising the problem, he frowns, as this will limit his strength greatly.
"Cleo, you know." Before he can finish his words, Leon slaps his head, causing a loud smacking sound.
"I am already here; if you think that I will retreat just because of this, you are underestimating my courage." He harrumphs loudly.
Diamond just smiles, wishing that she could have a great friend like him. Most of the people that exist in this world only make a move through benefits.
"Let us go deeper, Aranold; you have the constitution to withstand even a powerful gust of yin wind; you are going to be our front; Diamond, you are in the middle; I know what you want to say and do not need to worry; I did not put you in the middle because it is the safest spot but because of how important it is."
The two look at him with interest; Aranold already accepts his position; Diamond is still a bit hesitant; her strength is clearly greater than the two of them; she should be at the front or at the back.
"Your responsibility is to assist whoever is in trouble. I will be in the back because I can record the path. According to some of the books that I have read, some of the dangers that exist in the valley are the crooked paths that seemingly beguile the minds of the travellers, making them unable to leave even if they want to, becoming lost for their entire lives."
The two gulp nervously. They realise that it is great to keep someone like him by their side; at least they have the knowledge to know what is happening to them or the information about the place they are going.
As they advance deeper into the valley, they suffer more and more assaults from the yin winds. Leon grunts as his face becomes ruthless. He stops and lets out a loud tiger roar. Above him, a tiger splits into two; one of them looks like a tiger with draconic traits, while the other one is a pitch black tiger with devil horns.
ROAR! He lets out another roar, but this time it sounds quite different; other than being more menacing, it feels uncomfortable to hear, as if a ghost wails.
Black veins appear all over him, and his eyes become bloody red as he exudes an aura of malevolence. This shocked the two.
Taking a deep breath, the changes start to recede. He heaves a sigh of relief and sits in a meditative stance. He starts reciting something strange. The eyes of Diamond widen. She knows this is one of the techniques that Pure gave him.
"F*ck! This valley is more dangerous than I expected! To think that it would try to mess with my mind after being exposed to it's unique energy!" He complains loudly, returning to his old self.