At dusk.
The Forest Sea was bathed in the afterglow, with the sparse clouds on the horizon a golden hue, as if ablaze, and the entire world between heaven and earth an orange-red. The eastern sky resembled a gradient curtain, shifting from pale cyan to deep blue, to dark purple, and then twinkling with faint starlight, as the blue moon rose from the direction of Hailin. At the zenith, the profound curtain of the sky was adorned with a dazzling, variegated Milky Way.
Kroid sat alone on a rotting log, sipping his drink in small mouthfuls, silently watching the sun sink below the mountain hollow. The glow of the sunset gradually faded, the forest began darken, and speckled with some strange, glowing plants. Under the curled fronds of the long fern in the distance sat several shy creatures—the Forest Fairies, looking curiously at these humans from afar. The huge chalk rock below was actually a Rock Giant, which occasionally shifted its body to prevent the annoying winged lizard from always trying to crawl into its gill-like orifices.
When Kroid saw Sicape emerge from her tent, he quickly, cautiously stowed his flask and stretched, preparing to stand up. The distant fairies were frightened, disappearing into the darkness in a scatter of light points with a 'ya—' sound. The Rock Giant, startled by them, shook its body, and the winged lizard trying hard to climb up lost its footing and fell.
This slight commotion finally caught the attention of Fang Hong, who turned his head to check. It had just passed eight o'clock, and the atmosphere in the camp had entered the state before battle. Although the mission hadn't been officially issued, the leaders of the various groups had begun contacting their team members, calling roll, gathering, and the remaining people were checking their weapons and equipment.
Fang Hong himself was also making final preparations. As an Alchemist, he carried more personal items with him, filling two huge chests, so Sicape had specially allocated a Beast of Burden for his use. The last War Gear to be checked was placed together with a rolled-up tent, on top of the Beast of Burden's saddlebag, next to which hung two huge vine chests, which he struggled to take down.
Fang Hong could not help but pat the Tessov Dragon Lizard Beast with a bit of annoyance, signaling it to crouch down a bit.
But the heavily burdened Tessov Dragon Lizard Beast snorted loudly, clearly dissatisfied with his action. Fang Hong almost laughed in exasperation: "Well, you've got quite a temper."
He was about to resort to the ultimate measure—when a slender, fair hand entered his vision. The hand gently grasped the handle of the chest, as if it was weightless, effortlessly lifting a pair of chests for him and placing them on the ground.
Fang Hong paused—
The quiet girl had come to his side unnoticed, her serene gaze met his. She was almost as tall as Fang Hong, her supple, luxurious hair like a strip of silver satin reflecting the starlight, with curled tips and a pair of pointed, canine ears alertly perked atop her head, covered in white, soft fur, fine and loose.
Her skin possessed the hue of milk, her exquisite face resembling flower petals under the moon, glistening with dewy translucence. Beneath her delicate eyebrows was a spring of cold, pure clarity, and her starry eyes seemed to perpetually recite an everlasting poem.
When Fang Hong's gaze met that tranquil and elegant look, his heart immediately started to throb uncontrollably.
"...Miya?"
This mysterious girl radiating an air of mystery was the temporary Commander sent down from the Flor side. She was also the Liaison unilaterally responsible for communicating with other teams participating in this mission: her Chosen bloodline was from the Forest People of the Wilderness Nation Rotao—a country that practiced isolationist policies, though Chosen members were obviously not subject to such restrictions.
She was quiet and reserved, like a graceful and aloof she-wolf—but actually, she was easy to get along with, just not talkative. Normally she didn't interfere much with the Adventure Group's daily affairs, and besides being a great beauty, everyone in the team liked her, with almost no one having objections to this 'Commander Miss' who had arrived out of the blue.
Except for Miss Sicape.
Miss Sicape always suspected her of having ulterior motives. Of course, Miss Sicape didn't trust anyone from the Grand Guild, but Fang Hong believed she was more against Miya due to a bit of womenly jealousy.
Fang Hong only knew the ID Miya; she didn't seem to be a member of the Jiefulite Red Cloak Team, but the Descendants of Flor was an alliance of Chosen from over a dozen Guilds, so it wasn't odd for her to come from some other guild.
Because he was responsible for maintaining the War Gear, Fang Hong got to chat with her often, which at one point drew the envious howls of the lustful wolves in the group, clamoring to switch jobs to an Alchemist. However, this ill wind was quickly suppressed by Miss Sicape.
"When will my War Blade be fixed?" Miya's voice was soft, her tone unhurried, like the wind gently blowing through the Forest.
"Ah, it's already fixed. Overloading the strength framework was easy to solve, it's just that the Swift Gear was too high-level for me. I made a temporary compensation plan, which doesn't affect the use of the War Blade itself, but the War Gear's 'Swift Burst' Skill..."
"Is locked?"
"Um, I'm sorry," Fang Hong said, somewhat embarrassed, scratching his head.
"It's okay, I know the condition of my own War Gear better than anyone. Besides, every conversation has to start from somewhere, right?"