Near noon, the Dea Plateau was cloudless.
It had not rained for nearly one month, but at that moment, a rainbow appeared on the horizon, flying from the Northern Frontier Mountains toward the Dea Plateau.
Unlike a common rainbow, its arc was almost negligible; it was essentially a straight line, nearly 1,000 meters long, and it moved at extreme speeds.
When the rainbow reached the northern part of the Dea Plateau, its straight form suddenly made a 90-degree turn and plunged toward the ground.
The trailing iridescent light landed with it, causing the lush green grass of the landing site to burst with a brilliant luster.
As the light gradually faded, a massive, colorful bird appeared.
Then, a woman wearing a grayish-white cloak jumped off its back. She pulled back her hood, revealing prominent cat ears on her head.
Vieno rubbed her hands together and said, “Whew, I can’t fly anymore once I’m here, or it’ll be too obvious. This mission is a secret, a secret…”
“Chirp—” As soon as Vieno finished speaking, the giant colorful bird behind her instantly shrank and perched on her shoulder.
The rainbow in the sky had been its doing.
As a top-tier monster at the pinnacle of the food chain, the Rainbow Hawk possessed feathers sharp enough to cut through almost anything and unparalleled speed.
It could even expand its body to the size of a Dragon to hunt them.
After tens of thousands of years of conflict between Rainbow Hawks and Dragons, even newborn hatchlings were now terrified of rainbows in the sky.
“Are you ready, Xiao Cai? We are about to reach the Mist and have an audience with the mysterious Hermit. Are you nervous?” Vieno stroked Xiao Cai’s head.
“Chirp.”
“Haha, I’m nervous too. I hope the Hermit is willing to meet me.” Vieno walked toward the nearest main road and waited under the shade of a tree.
A few minutes later, a carriage carrying various fruits and vegetables slowly approached. Vieno immediately pulled up her hood and reached out.
“Over here! Please give me a ride! I’m going to Deya City!”
She had seen the carriage’s route from the air, so she was certain it was heading to the city.
“No room! I’m not taking passengers!” The old man driving the carriage waved her off repeatedly, appearing to harbor a deep dislike for wild Adventurers who liked to hitch free rides.
“Here, this is for my fare.” Vieno didn’t bother explaining.
She simply tossed one Gold Coin at the old man. He froze as he caught it, and after a moment, the deep frown on his face vanished.
“Please get in, Miss! There’s a delicate cushion from Wangsheng City in the back; it’s very comfortable! Judging by your outfit, you aren’t a local, are you? Are you here to challenge the Mist? It just so happens I have some information about the Mist. I’ll tell you for free…”
……
Deep within the Mist.
Eldon was dreaming. He dreamed he was in his small cabin, huddling by a warm fireplace.
A fierce blizzard raged outside, while he was continuously comforted by the warmth within.
‘So warm…’ Eldon let out a long breath. But shortly after he started enjoying the fire, a loud knocking erupted at the door.
“Eldon! Eldon!”
‘Eh? Alice’s voice?’ Eldon rushed to the door to open it.
But the moment he did, Alice, standing at the entrance, slapped him across the face, jolting him out of the dream.
“Wake up, Eldon!”
“Uh… wh-what?!”
In a damp clearing within the Mist, Alice gave the Eldon in her arms two more slaps, finally causing him to sit up like a dying man suddenly revived.
“What’s the situation?”
Eldon hurriedly looked around, finding the area still shrouded in thick fog.
Beneath a nearby Old Tree, Anderson, who showed clear signs of battle damage, was leaning against the trunk.
He was using a small knife to maintain his crossbow bolts while keeping a sharp eye on their surroundings.
To Eldon’s right, Alice, who had been holding him, finally breathed a sigh of relief. “Thank goodness, you’re finally awake!”
On his left, Zhendi was holding her Magic Staff, casting a Healing Spell on the large bump on Eldon’s head caused by the Giant Chameleon’s tail.
The swelling subsided at a visible rate, and Eldon felt a wave of warmth.
“Hey, you. You’re finally awake.” Zhendi tapped Eldon’s nearly healed bruise with her staff. “Don’t waste time. It’s time to keep moving.”
“Those three monsters… did you deal with them?” Eldon asked immediately as he sat up.
“It’s fine now. Senior Anderson and I took care of everything, and Zhendi healed our injuries,” Alice replied.
Under Anderson’s continuous kiting, Alice had gained a valuable opportunity to deal damage.
A few fully charged Magic Missiles could easily take down a Giant Chameleon, though her aim was lacking.
It had taken Anderson 30 minutes of maneuvering to finish off the three chameleons, and he had sustained several injuries because of it.
Fortunately, they had Zhendi.
“I see…” Eldon fell into a brief silence. For some reason, a sense of worthlessness washed over him again, just like when he could only watch Alice be bullied by the Slimes earlier.
He had clearly wanted to prove himself, yet he ended up being the only one dragging the team down…
‘Is he feeling inferior again?’ Zhendi tilted her head as she looked at Eldon. This made Alice feel a bit hopeful.
‘As a Second-rank Priest, Lady Zhendi must know many words of encouragement to help someone regain their confidence, right?’
Then, Zhendi’s next words shocked everyone present.
“It’s a bit early to be feeling inferior. You’ll have plenty of chances for that later. Are you rested? If so, get moving. This place isn’t a Safe Zone; if we stay too long, we’ll be easily attacked.”
Not only did Zhendi fail to comfort Eldon, but she also rubbed salt in his wound before urging him to hurry up. The atmosphere instantly turned ice-cold.
“Lady Zhendi, saying things like that right now… isn’t very nice…” A drop of cold sweat rolled down Alice’s forehead. For a moment, she felt Zhendi had the temperament of a Demon.
‘The second young lady doesn’t seem to be very good at reading the room, nor does she seem to sympathize with others’ feelings. Right, a standard noble trait; she can’t compare to her sister in this regard,’ Anderson thought.
‘She looks cold and speaks coldly, and she probably has quite a few schemes in her heart. Is this what they call “black-bellied”?’
‘Is it not nice?’ Zhendi glanced at Eldon, whose face had turned slightly pale.
She had seen through his personality during the Slime ambush.
Although he had some combat experience, he was impulsive, easily jealous, and desperate to prove himself to his girlfriend.
In that case, appropriate pressure and help would be very beneficial for him.
To restore Eldon’s motivation and prevent him from breaking down easily in future Dungeons, Zhendi leaned down and whispered into his ear.
“Do you know how well Anderson and your little friend coordinated just now? If you weren’t here, I would have thought they were a couple in perfect sync. You really are quite useless, aren’t you?”
“You…” Eldon felt terrible.
“But don’t worry, while you were unconscious, I said many good things about you to Alice. She still likes you for now, but I can’t guarantee that for the future, especially since your performance was so poor. So, if you don’t pull yourself together, there’s a high probability Alice will lose interest. Do you want that to happen?”
Eldon lowered his head in thought, then shook it decisively.
“Very good, some backbone at last. You’ll have to give your all for the rest of the adventure. And don’t worry, I’ll help you secretly, so you can show off in front of Alice.”