Though Darcel and Aniela's guards slightly relaxed, knowing this won't lead to a fight. It didn't help lessen the oddity on what stranger Innate Core cultivators would want with mere Nascent Core cultivators.
Darcel and Aniela's eyes darted around the icy road, and it was clear as day these roads were expansive enough for crowds of people.
The icy road was at least ten feet wide or so, allowing for groups of people to not get near each other.
At first, Darcel and Aniela had the reasonable idea to first speak out to this group. If they were coming specifically to them, then there's no reason to not and try to speak.
However, before either one of the duos could talk, they soon heard a gruff man's voice.
"What the….just two little Nascent Core kids? Really? Fruana, are you sure those Mages didn't just pull a fast one on us?" The man's tone was a slight bit accusatory and a tiny bit annoyed.
It was when Darcel and Aniela heard the man's voice that they could get a better image of their group. And already, a luminous white glowing shine made this group of four pop out.
Darcel and Aniela were able to make three men and one woman all wearing matching warm articles of clothing that would be suitable for the cold.
They all wore long brown fur coats, with the fur appearing to be taken from a fluffy Spirit Monster wolf. Around their legs were similarly brown furry pants and even furry brown boots.
With only one glance, anyone would immediately be able to guess this would be a Mage's line of clothing.
Typically most cultivators tend to wear superficial layers of articles of clothing as to mainly show their status or wealth.
But what attracted Darcel and Aniela's eyes the most was the bright white glow spewing from their hands. The duo was able to make out four blank white pendants that were continuously exuding the luminous white glow.
Before Darcel or Aniela could question anything again, they soon heard another male voice say,
"Don't be in such a haste to judge Robert. Besides, if there's one thing anybody knows about those Mage's is they all value themselves and their works more than anything. They would never even bother with trying to sell a defective product. And who knows? Maybe those kids really can help."
Now only several meters of distance separated Darcel and Aniela from the fur coat group. The duo still stayed cautiously rooted in their spot and was able to make out the three men and one woman's faces.
The men all held the rough, harden appearances of experienced adventurers and warriors.
While the woman kept a refined, calm look, clearly exuding her sober experiences in adventuring.
"How about instead of trying to draw a pre-based conclusion, we actually take action." It was the woman that spoke this time, and her eyes, along with her other group members, lit up when once finally seeing Darcel and Aniela's full appearance and presence.
"Excuse us, but do you two hail from a sect? I don't think I or any of us ever saw such peculiar uniforms." The woman had continued on to talk and asked the duo.
She, along with the men, had first noticed the clean, sleek design of Zakira's Academy Core level uniform.
Most obviously, that kind of elegant design would only mean they came from a sect.
Yet none of them recognized the uniforms, and they all were very familiar with the whole snowy lands here.
But despite how suspicious they could be, the woman and the men were drawn into having a relatively slight positive base first impression of these kids.
Mainly because their eyes were quickly sucked into Darcel and Aniela's alluring faces after noticing their uniforms.
For a couple of youths, they all had to admit these two had spectacular appearances. Plus, compared to any other Nascent Core youths, the woman and the men could all immediately tell there was something special that set these kids Nascent aura apart.
Aniela gave the fur coat group her most charming smile, seeing how at least the woman was pretty civil.
"Ah, we do come from a sect….but I doubt any one of you would've heard about it. Mainly because we're not actually from around here. One minute, we were on a sect expedition to explore an ancient cave, but we had accidentally come upon a weird trap. And then, like magic, we were abruptly teleported in the middle of these snowy plains!"
The men and women curiously raised an eyebrow at Aniela's story.
Even for their mysterious cultivation world, that story seemed a bit odd. But then again, none of them truly knows what kind of uniform the two are wearing.
Plus, none of them were that willing to question Aniela's story as she and Darcel had a welcoming, warm presence about them. And Aniela's voice was incredibly soothing to their ears.
"That's quite a story, isn't it? Well, the snowy plains you're describing is actually called the Plunged Tundra around these parks. And you two and us are smack dab right in the middle of this huge winter area. Specifically, you two are in the fourth rank Province." The woman smilingly explained to them.
And Darcel and Aniela were promptly taken aback a bit.
Somehow, they suddenly jump up from the ninth rank Province all the way up to the fourth rank Province?
Slight waves of turmoil panic coursed in Darcel and Aniela's minds. But neither let it be shown on their face. Their expressions remained relatively neutral, trying to sort this sudden information out.
Darcel was quick to recover from the shocking news, and his eyes glanced down at their pendants.
From his soul, he could clearly sense those items exuded unique soul energy that Darcel assumed to be some sort of soul tracker.
After taking a slight pause, an idea quickly formed in his mind, and he spoke up to the group next. "I see; thank you for the information. We never really got the time to read up on the geography of our region. But, I just have to say, before we continue on, those pendants in your hands. Are they soul items?"
This time, the man in the middle, who was the tallest of the four, smiled at the duo and answered Darcel.
"You would be right in thinking these are soul items. More specifically, they're pendants used to seek out soul treasures, among many other uses. And abruptly, all four of our pendants went haywire and led us to you two. Seeing as you could already identify these as soul items, I assume one of you have something soul related on yourself?
Before answering, Darcel and Aniela shared a brief look between them.
At this point, it truly wasn't such a bad idea to try and tag along with this group of Innate Core warriors.
They all seemed friendly enough and obviously have a specific reason for approaching them. But most of all, Darcel and Aniela simply have no other sense of direction and could only hope to get lucky in finding civilization without them.
"Mnh….ah! Well, actually, we are always told by our mentors that our souls are extraordinary and powerful. So those Mage's pendants, well, it just picked up on our special souls!" Aniela spoke in an assured, confident tone that left no room for argument.
Still, the three men and woman had some slight doubts on their faces.
"Special souls?"
They all questionably said as they all first thought Darcel or Aniela may just have a unique soul artifact on themselves. Plenty of Sects are known to have such items.
But genuinely having their own special souls? It was a bit hard to believe!
After all, even though the men and the woman live in a much stronger Province. They only know about rare talents that would have extraordinary and powerful souls.
Seeing the apparent doubts on their faces, Darcel and Aniela decided it wouldn't hurt to show off a bit. Though, they were only going as far enough to convince them of their souls being special.
"Special like this." Darcel confidently stated while he and Aniela began slightly surging their souls.
"You two….ah?"
The middle man was going to talk again until his, and his other group members' blank pendants began rumbling!
The bright white glowing radiance had only become more robust as if they just encountered a spectacular treasure.
All of their eyes snapped back to Darcel and Aniela, only to be slightly stunned. Wisps of beautiful white light sparked out of the duo like flashes of electricity.
In this situation, the men and women could only conclude that somehow these kids truly can mobilize their souls!
Their pendants still directly pinpointed on them and couldn't be mistaken for it just being a mere soul artifact treasure. Even for the men and woman, they could feel their souls' slightly stir from the duo's special soul powers.
The three men went silent and into deep contemplation.
While the women decided to boldly comment on them, saying, "That….that indeed is pretty special. At least, I have never seen someone using their souls like this!"
"Hehehe~, by the fact you even need these pendants, I can tell you four seem to be in some need. Darcel and I could possibly help with this as you see we're rather….completely lost. Oh! By the way, my name is Aniela."
This time the three men and the woman fell silent. Now they are armed with the knowledge that it wasn't accidental that their pendants led them here.
And going by their pendants, their help would actually be remarkably valuable.
So, the woman decided to step up to the plate and introduced her whole group. She gave the duo a warm smile while telling them, "It's a pleasure to meet you both, Darcel and Aniela. My name is Fruna, the man to my right is Hurey, and those two are Robert and Reyney."
As Fruna was on the left end of the ground, she went in order to introduce them.
Darcel and Aniela saw she pointed at Hurey as the middle man, beside him was Robert, and beside him was Reyney.
"We're all heading to a relatively special place where you can only get through if your soul is strong enough. However, this doesn't exclude the usage of soul items or soul related items. So if you want to help us, you'll have no need to worry about regular cultivation level."
Fruna went to thoroughly explain where they were heading. And following in her lead, Hurey nodded and picked up, saying,
"If you truly want to help us, then I suppose you two could help us fuel the barrier these pendants will form. Our combined soul powers should be enough then. Oh, and don't worry. We'll see to it you'll be handsomely rewarded if we get through that place."
Though a bit sudden, Fruna, Hurey, Robert, and Reyney knew enlisting these kids' help wouldn't be such a bad idea.
Their pendants already proved their worth; furthermore, their cultivation is so low they're practically not a threat in any shape or form. They simply had nothing to lose.
"Well then, if it's just doing that, it's no harm to us. By the way, do you four all hail from a certain group?" Darcel spoke up to ask this time since they did all seem to be at least coordinated.
"Ah, we come from a relatively powerful band of adventurers known as The Nobe's Fang group. And our motto is that we're always willing to take in new adventures who may want to join."
Fruna suggestively explained, leading the kids for some road in the future.
Frankly, if these youths could actually get them through that special area, Fruna and the others would most definitely want these talents to join their groups.
And even then, their pendants' reactions already gave them a referral about joining.
"Oh? Well, isn't that just a great motto, Darcel? Let's get to it then! Don't worry about us Fruna, we'll follow right behind!" Aniela brightly flashed them a broad smile, and even Darcel gave an elegant smile to them.
Hurey, Robert, Reynay, and Fruna were really starting to quickly like Aniela's bombastic, energetic energy.
Nodding the duo, Hurey had then told them, "At our distance, it won't be long before we get there. While we walk, we'll inform you more about this special place. It's quite….perciluar."