'Why is he here?' Yuki thought and sighed as she walked towards them.
"Excuse me," Yuki called out which caught the attention of all four of them.
"Is this the team for the mission?" Yuki asked, but the only one who didn't seem to glare at her was the girl.
"Yup, come join us." She said kindly.
Yuki nodded and sat down next to her with Ardor Huo glaring at her from the other side of the girl.
"I'm Yuki. Nice to meet you." Yuki smiled and introduced herself to them.
"Nice to meet you too, I'm Mei Mei!" The girl said, counting her fingers which looked cute.
"I'm Arther," The tall one with brown hair said.
"I'm Huang Ran." The blonde haired boy said coldly.
"And I'm Ardor Huo." Ardor Huo said, glaring at Yuki.
'What did I ever do to him?' Yuki thought sadly. 'Well, I did beat him... Twice.'
Yes, after a week of games, she happened to battle against him again and won with little difficulty.
"Okay, everyone's here, let's start discussing the mission." Huang Ran said.
"Alright, first I want to ask, are you the leader, Huang Ran?" Yuki asked.
"Yes. I'm level 46, Spirit: Golden Dragon, age 22." Huang Ran said.
Yuki looked at him with shock and her jaw almost dropped. She couldn't believe that a level 46 Spirit Master would participate in this mission.
"Ardor Huo, Level 25, Spirit: Crimson Dragon King, age 17." Ardor Huo said angrily.
"I'm level 23, Spirit: Black Ice Dragon Queen, age 17." Mei Mei said cheerfully.
"I'm level 18, Spirit: Rock Dragon Sword, age 17." Arther said, rubbing the back of his neck.
"You are the weakest." Ardor Huo scoffed.
"Don't worry, I can fight!" Arther said and flexed his arm, showing off his muscles.
"Yuki, Level 13, Spirit: Snow Dragon, age 16." Yuki said, causing all of them to look at her weirdly.
"You said I was the weakest? She's even a part of the clan that doesn't even exist anymore." Arther said, pointing at Yuki.
"You don't have a clan?" Mei Mei asked, looking at Yuki with curiosity.
"No, not anymore." Yuki shook her head.
"Why not?" Mei Mei asked.
"Um, Don't you know that the Snow Dragon Clan was killed 300 years ago?" Yuki said speechlessly.
"Oh, I forgot about that." Mei Mei giggled.
"Anyway, let's move on to the mission." Ardor Huo cut their conversation short.
"Yes." Huang Ran agreed. "The mission is about the Abyss currently entering the boarding villages of the Sun and Moon Empire."
After hearing Huang Ran's words, Yuki's fist clenched and thought about her sister.
"I see." Arther nodded.
"I'm sure everyone here knows about the Abyss." Ardor Huo said, earning nods from everyone.
"So, this mission is going to take some time. We must report the details of any information regarding why, or what." Huang Ran said.
"That's right. Let's go." Ardor Huo nodded and stood up.
"Let's go." Arther stood up and stretched.
"Yeah." Mei Mei cheered, and Huang Ran nodded and stood up as well.
"Alright." Yuki nodded and stood up, following behind the group.
They walked to the exit of the Dragon Sect and headed towards a cave nearby.
"Where are we going?" Yuki asked, following the rest of the team inside the cave.
"There is a hidden passageway near the exit of the Dragon Sect." Huang Ran answered.
"Hidden passageway?" Yuki repeated and looked at him confused.
"Yes, the Dragon Sect has many passageways." Ardor Huo explained.
"Really? Why?" Yuki asked.
"So we can reach different locations faster. It also allows us to stay hidden to the humans." Arther said.
"Hmm, I understand..." Yuki nodded.
"Alright, everyone, the path gets narrow so watch your steps." Huang Ran said, and they began to walk through the dark narrow passageway.
After a few minutes of walking, they reached an exit, and Yuki saw that they were on the outside of the mountain and there were different mountains and trees in front of her.
"This is the beginning of the Sun and Moon Empire." Ardor Huo said and everyone was in awe, except Yuki and Huang Ran, who has probably come here multiple times before.
"Which way are we going?" Yuki asked, and she couldn't help but feel nervous for her sister.
"The Sun Empire, we're going to walk through the forest until we reach a village." Huang Ran said.
"Are there any strange people here? You know, the Abyss." Arther said.
"No, the only things you'll find are humans." Yuki said.
"Huh, how do you know?" Arther asked.
"Because I used to live near here." Yuki answered, causing the rest of the group to stare at her.
"Hey, what's wrong?" Yuki asked, getting uncomfortable by their stares.
"Nothing." Ardor Huo scoffed and walked ahead, followed by Huang Ran who looked at Yuki with an unreadable expression on his face.
Yuki sighed, wondering if she could make any friends. She looked at Mei Mei who smiled and waved at her, and Arther who was at the back of the group and seemed to be cheerful and fun to hang around with.
Time would pass as they'd all walk on the path heading towards a village nearby. Yuki would learn about Arther and Mei Mei, both who would speak about themselves freely.
"How about you? Where do you live?" Mei Mei asked Yuki after she had told her about herself.
"Um, in a village." Yuki replied.
"Oh really? Is it fun there?" Mei Mei asked curiously.
"Ahahah... Not really." Yuki smiled awkwardly as she remembered her experiences in her village.
"Come on, how can a village be that bad?" Arther asked.
'Hmm... Slavery? Daily beatings? Receiving lustful glares?' Yuki thought and looked at him seriously.
"Do you want to try living there for a while?" Yuki asked.
"No," Arther shuddered at the thought. "You seem so happy and energetic so you can't be from a terrible place."
Yuki laughed at his comment, and thought of her sister.
"Stop the chatting, we've arrived at the nearest village." Ardor Huo said and glared at them all, including Yuki.