Around Mira circled two lightning dragons; one was neon blue that gave off a cold, repulsive feeling, while the other was as black as the void and gave off the feeling of death. They both still had the properties of lightning, fast and destructive, but there was a little extra there.
Both lightning dragons circled Mira until, eventually, the two overlapped with one another, merging. As a result, the lightning became 90% neon blue, with a black streak running through it.
Letting out a turbid breath, Mira opened her eyes and released a small smile. These past two days have been extremely fruitful for her.
Looking at the small lightning dragon circling her, Mira thought about the experiment that she had tried.
'It seems my comprehension of an element can affect its characteristics and effects.'
That's right! Over the last few days, Mira took inspiration from her Black Runes and applied it to her Yin Lightning comprehension. Since the Black Runes encapsulated the meaning of Death and Yin associated with ideas like dark, cold, and death, she felt that she could use that to boost her understanding.
And it worked!
Somewhat…
While she was able to take inspiration from her Black Runes, she couldn't alter the fundamentals of her Yin Lightning. At most, she made the effects her black runes have on her Yin Lightning more pronounced, but that was about it.
However, that was more than enough for Mira. She lost nothing, yet her Yin Lightning and her other Yin elements were more effective.
Doing this, she also learned a bit more about what Yin is and what it represents in an element.
'Now that I've brought my Yin Lightning to the Middle-Stage Heaven Grade, I can move on to my final element: Wind!' Mira's eyes shone when she thought about that.
She was ready to be done with this Hell, so she could move on to the other requirements and finally break through into the Nascent Soul Realm! Not only would her power increase exponentially, but she'd acquire a whole slew of abilities once she did! One of which was the highly sought-after Soul Sense.
With that, escaping Mira's senses would be nearly impossible.
'Maybe not even Aelina will be able to sneak up on me!' She thought, but that was an exaggeration. Aelina was too powerful; she didn't need to sneak up on her. Even if she couldn't escape Mira's senses, it didn't matter. She still wouldn't be able to see her coming.
Mira stopped thinking about useless things and crawled out of her little cave to join up with Rhydian.
'Alright, Guardian, where can I go to raise the grade of the Wind affinity?' Mira asked.
"...Are you sure you want to know?" The Guardian asked reluctantly.
Mira raised an eyebrow at his words, and before she could speak, for some reason, she had a bad feeling. She knew the Guardian would never ask her that question. So, if he did, it meant something was wrong with the place he found.
Thus, instead of answering, she asked, "Why?"
The Guardian still appeared hesitant, but soon he sighed and relented, "It's just… the only place that will allow you to increase the grade of your wind affinity in 5 days is a bit annoying."
'How so? And isn't there another place I can use where I won't make enemies?'
"Well, just prepare yourself to make a few more enemies. To answer your second question, yes, there are other places, but it'll take you longer than five days," The Guardian answered, causing Mira to release a sigh of relief.
'Is that it? I've already got loads of enemies. What's one more? Just send lead me to the place I need to go.' She didn't bother asking him who her potential enemies were, even though they probably weren't normal since he seemed concerned. She'd find out soon anyways.
She didn't have much of a choice either way. Five days was not enough time to bring an affinity up from basically nothing to the Heaven Grade, no matter how excellent her comprehension was.
"...Fine. Just don't come crying to me when you have a bounty on your head." The Guardian sighed again, "Though, you probably shouldn't take Rhydian, as she's a bit too eye-catching. Also, you should use your illusions to hide your tails and ears while wearing a mask. If you do all this and with a little luck, maybe you won't make any new enemies!"
He tried to be optimistic, but if Mira could, she would have given him a dead look.
Lucky? Her? HAH! As if!
'Enough. Just lead me there.' Mira said, but she still listened to his directions, used her illusions to hide her tails, and put on a black mask to cover her face.
"Alright. The place you need to go is straight north. On the top of a mountain, there's a massive tree, home to the Sovereign-Grade Gale Eagle Clan and a few other avian beast clans. Once you're near it, you can't miss it." The Guardian said.
Mira raised an eyebrow and glanced at the remains of the Eagle that Rhydian had killed and eaten. 'Oh? So, that was a Gale Eagle?'
"Correct."
'Then, shouldn't this be an easy mission? One of their Rank 8 is already dead!'
"Normally, it would be, but the situation is a bit more complex than that. You'll understand when you get there." The Guardian said, unwilling to say more.
Mira shook her head but didn't bother asking him any more questions. She turned to Rhydian, who was lazing around and felt an eye twitch.
"Hey." A low growl escaped her mouth, causing Rhydian to shoot up on all fours, "I'm going to be gone for a few days. When I come back, if I haven't seen any improvement in your combat power, I'm going to encase you in ice and bury you under a frozen mountain. Maybe then, you'll finally learn how to use your elements."
The wolf shivered at Mira's threat and didn't doubt her words. If Mira didn't see her improving, she really would bury her, encased in ice!
Nodding repeatedly, Rhydian promised that she would get stronger!
Satisfied with her response, Mira turned around and flew up in the air, "I'll see you in 5 days at the most."
Leaving those words behind, she shot through the air, heading due north!
***
Mira flew through the air for several hours before she eventually caught sight of a massive tree sitting at the very top of a mountain. It had to be several hundred meters tall, maybe taller, and was teeming with life. All kinds of birds circled around it, humming happily as if they were living in Heaven on earth.
However, that wasn't the only thing that caught Mira's attention. Around this tree, there were multiple Formations that seemed to want to keep out any unwanted visitors. The mountain was also swarming with humans, who Mira could only assume to be guards. Though, to have only Nascent Soul Realm and Soul Transformation Realm cultivators as guards seemed a little much….
'What's going on here? Is this some kind of breeding ground or something?' Mira guessed, and if she understood what went on inside the Formations, she'd know that she was quite close to the correct answer.
'Well, whatever. I just need to get what I want and leave. Whether this is a breeding ground or not has nothing to do with me.' She shrugged, quickly losing interest.
"Now that you're here, all you need to do is consume the fruits that this tree produces until your affinity rises to the Heaven Grade! You might also have to absorb some of the tree's essence as well since those fruits might not be enough…" The Guardian said, and now Mira understood the problem.
With how many birds lived around this tree and with all the Formations, she could assume that the tree was important to everyone there.
However, it's not like the birds or humans will just let her steal it from right under their noses. More than likely, once she plucks a fruit, she'll be public enemy number one!
'Damn! Why is it always like this? Can't I just have a single fortuitous encounter where I don't need to murder a bunch of people?' She cursed but took out her scythe anyways.
"You COULD try and sneak in." The Guardian suggested, which wasn't a bad idea, but Mira just rolled her eyes.
"Really? Can I do such a thing?" She said sarcastically.
"Yes. You can."
"Hmph!" Mira snorted, "Alright! Let's see how well your idea will go."
She encased herself in an illusion, making her invisible to the outside world, then used every stealth technique she knew and approached the formation silently.
Nobody outside the Formation noticed her presence, not that they were looking for her anyway, so she was able to make it smoothly to the barrier.
However, as soon as her foot touched it-
*BEEEEEP!!**BEEEEEP!!**BEEEEEP!!**BEEEEEP!!**BEEEEEP!!**BEEEEEP!!*
"Intruder!!"
"Someone snuck in! Find him!"
"Search the perimeter!!"
"The formation says she's over there! Look!"
Mira felt a Formation lock onto her, notifying everyone of her presence, and sighed. She knew this was going to happen. She might not know much about Formations, but she knows enough to understand that with her knowledge and skills, she wasn't going to bypass the Detection Formation they have set up.
"Wow~~~ What a great idea you had~."
