Chapter 246: Traversing The Mist

With their minds entirely prepared for battle, Darcel, Aniela, and Masami were prepared for those vague, shadowy figures to jump out at them. They waited for a whole two seconds for any sign of action.

But it was when two seconds passed that Darcel, Aniela, and Masami noticed there really wasn't any overflow of energy. 

Besides that slight shift of energy and slight quivering on the ground, nothing was screaming in their Spirit Senses about imminent danger.

It really was like they weren't any danger in this hazy mist and was only relying on little tricks to confuse people. 

Something like this should be welcoming news for the trio since this should mean there wouldn't be any life-threatening danger. 

And yet, Darcel, Aniela, and Masami couldn't help but be more worried.

The lack of action in this area only meant in their minds that something will happen in the near future. After their previous intense fights in this realm, none of them doubted for a second that something would try to claw their way to them to try and kill them.

Especially when considering the yellow-eyed woman's influence on the whole independent realm, the trio was thinking it was only a matter of time. 

As they stood rooted in their spots, the thick mist started to gradually clear up a bit.

The mist slowly turned back to the state of when the trio first arrived here. And as they came to their surroundings, Masami immediately raised her fox flames palm and intensified her shining glow.

When seeing their current scenery, the trio blinked their eyes. 

Since they saw movements before, they all expected some sort of change. But really, besides some trees looking a bit different from their previous location, nothing at all changed!

"Tch….you know, I wonder if that was even a right call following that leaf. I hope this puzzle isn't so overly complicated." Masami cursed out some of her frustrations. 

Her eyes were searching through the trees, already feeling annoyed that it was like they made no progress.

Aniela had more optimism on her face as she carefully peered her sights on the trees she could see, thanks to Masami's fox flames. She took particular notice to spot every single changing detail, no matter how minuscule it was.

Though it appeared as everything the same, this wasn't the case as there were genuine but missable different details in the scenery. 

Aniela felt inscribed with a sense of progress, and she began telling Masami, "Don't get too down in the dumps, Sami. There are some changes here, just barely noticeable. And I think….this was on purpose. To get whoever comes here confused at their seeming lack of progress."

Aniela's eyes brightly lit up as she reached a conclusion in the midst of her own sentence. Darcel was also inclined to agree with her as he too could spot the tiny detail changes in the scenery.

Although, Masami had only rolled her eyes a bit, saying, "Haah….well, at least this could be considered good eyesight training for us. Honestly,  I don't remember or even recall using my eyesight in strenuous stuff."

"You say that, but you were the first to notice that white leaf before us. I'm sure if you put your mind into it, you can actually do better than us." 

Darcel commented, praising Masami as he was genuinely impressed she could scout out that white leaf first. Even as they have a general idea of what to look for now, it didn't get any easier for him to spot another white leaf. 

Masami felt a bit giddy inside from Darcel's praise. Her foxtails began to swish around, and she huffed up a bit happily.

Searching around their current spot, Masami still didn't catch any white leaves. And with more assurance running through her body from Darcel's words, she had then confidently told the duo, 

"Hmph. Alright, since you're putting so much trust into my eyes, let's slowly walk up a bit. Around here, I can't spot any white leaves."

Darcel and Aniela glanced over at each other. Just from their slight wistful eyes, they could tell neither of them was having any success in trying to find that single damn leaf. 

"Once again, you can lead the way, Sami." Aniela readily agreed.

"Before we continue on. Just how much energy is it taking you to keep those flames up?" Darcel curiously asked. 

Since their heavy nerfs, Darcel could sense within himself that his endurance is a far cry from before. Even when he activates his weaker bloodline state, he feels a considerable drain on his body. 

It was enough to leave him a little bit winded, and Darcel knew there was no longer a seemingly indefinite endurance on his transformation state.

This is why he was a bit concerned, as though Masami was just in her normal state; she could very well get winder quicker because of their nerfs. 

Aniela also was concerned over Masami's endurance as she was their only current guide in here.

Although both Darcel and Aniela's concerns weren't actually that big of a deal for Masami. 

She had given the duo a slight smirk, telling them, "Don't worry. I have to give it up to my family again. They are actually impressive enough to a point where they have a method to have our fox flames barely use any of our Qi energy. Just this amount is minuscule to me."

Darcel and Aniela blinked their eyes, feeling even more impressed at her family's abilities. 

"I see…." Both of them said and wondered just how profound Masami's family really is.

Darcel even briefly thought about what it would be like to face off against the Ice Nine Tail sect if they still had their original prowess.

Masami had never really looked overly concerned during those times, but Darcel guessed it wouldn't have been so easy.

But with how they are now, facing the Ice Nine Tail sect only seemed like a distant wondering dream. Darcel was pulled from his thoughts as Masami suddenly said, 

"Stick close to me, guys. And let's keep our eyes peeled."

She had then slowly walked forward, and Aniela was right behind her, giggling a bit at her new leadership attitude. 

Darcel also felt a bit of amusement and still kept his pace behind her as his eyes continually peered around the hazy white mist.

For several seconds, the trio strolled slowly and carefully. They could only see ten meters in front of them, so even the slightest of mistakes could lead them to miss something important.

Although, still, Darcel and Aniela couldn't find any white leaves. And if there was one, they wouldn't be able to tell as everything just blended seamlessly with the mist. 

For a moment, Darcel and Aniela could only fathom how Masami was able to spot that white leaf the first time. Even when Masami pointed it out to them, they both could only see a vague outlining trace of it. 

And just when Darcel and Aniela guessed they wouldn't have any luck here, Masami's whole body perked up.

She had abruptly stopped as her body leaned forward, and her eyes squinted. Flashes of fox flames surged within her pupils, and after a second, a bright twinkle sparked within her! 

"Ah-ha! Looks, guys, I spotted another one! Guess you really are right about me, Darcel." As she spoke, Masami pointed to another tree branch to their right. 

This time, the tree branch went a little out of Masami's fox flames range. Yet, she could still make out a single bright white leaf sprouting from the branch.

When Darcel and Aniela squint their eyes, they could barely make out anything. That white leaf just blended too well in the hazy mist. 

"Seriously….you're going to need to give us pointers with our own flames, Sami," Aniela spoke as she and Darcel followed behind Masami to that white leaf. 

Truthfully, Darcel and Aniela could've always ask Masami for tips in comprehending their Fire abilities.

But with how competitive they are, the duo wanted to achieve Masami's high boundary all on their own. That competitiveness isn't really prevalent anymore after their previous traumatic events. Now, they both were willing to honestly learn anything from her. 

Without looking back at them, Masami spoke with a sense of pride in her tone, "And I will be glad to help. I told you two to let me help before, but I guess better late than never."

Darcel and Aniela shrugged their shoulders as they chuckled a bit, knowing Masami wasn't wrong in her words. 

And soon enough, when they had come within three meters apart from the branch Masami pointed at, Darcel and Aniela could now spot that white leaf.

'Even up close, it's still hard to see….' Darcel remarked in his mind. He shook his head a bit afterward since all that matters is that they found it. 

And just like before, the trio walked past the white leaf without any interruptions.

More similarities began to pop up as Darcel, Aniela and Masami stopped again, once making it five meters from the white leaf. 

A small surge of energy shifted the air, the white mist became so thick it was nearly impossible to see, and the ground quiver ever so slightly once again.

Darcel, Aniela, and Masami still tensed their bodies, ready for any action. 

But this time, none of them could even spot any vague shadows shifting around in this mist. The nearly impossible to see thick mist lasted for a couple of seconds, and nothing dangerous lunged at the trio.

In the same motion once again, Masami raised her palm up and ignited her fox flames in a harsher blue glow. 

As her fox flames clear up a bit of their vision, Darcel, Aniela, and Masami felt mildly surprised at their new scenery.

Now, there simply weren't any trees from what they could see. On the ground, there were only numerous white leaves, all spaced in seemingly random order. 

There wasn't any rhyme or reason to where the leaves were placed, almost as if they were dropped from the skies.

With their curiosity rising, Masami led Darcel and Aniela to one of these random white leaves. 

Masami's eyes zeroed in on the leaf, trying to spot any noticeable changes. She shook her head only a couple of seconds later, saying, "Huh. Well, despite being more of them, they're not any different from the previous ones on the trees." 

Darcel narrowed his eyes on the leaf, trying to spot any difference but was just as successful as Masami. "Don't see anything different either." He spoke while shaking his head. 

Only Aniela remained quiet as a faint shimmering white light began to slowly swirl within her eyes.

Masami was only about an inch from this fallen leaf. Since they could be just potentially missing something, she had crouched down and was going to pick up the seemingly harmless leaf.

But right as her hands was only a few centimeters away from the leaf, Masami, Darcel, and Aniela felt their Spirit Senses buzz with danger!