Junhui - Middle Ground - Northern Lucid Forest

Junhui grimace as he felt the light sting on his shoulder. He was wearing an ugly gash moments ago that he got from the talons of one the demon beast, good thing the astral noble Jeonghan came rushing down to him the moment his knees touched the ground.

He was also thankful for the astral noble for healing him at least to the point that the pain was bearable enough to move.

"Is it still painful?" As if on cue, the middle grounder heard the soft and worried voice of Yoon Jeonghan. The said man was walking right beside him while the noble nether Choi Seungcheol was a few steps ahead.

"Not at all lord Yoon, I am actually very thankful that you were there to help me." Junhui thanked him as he gratefully looked at the other man.

"I'm sorry I couldn't quite heal you completely lord Wen, healing isn't really what I'm good at you see. If it were Lord Hong who healed you, you're probobly patched up perfectly." Jeonghan looked at him with an apologetic gaze.

"Oh lord Yoon, please do not grieve on something as trivial as this little gash. You have healed me wonderfully, in fact you've healed me way better compared to all the healers here in our realm." Jeonghan smiled sweetly, the contrast of his mellow facial features overpowered the obvious blood streaks smeared on top it. 

The said man was about to say something when they heard the noble nether who was ahead of them clear his throat.

"I had no intentions of disturbing your small talk," Junhui snapped his head to Seungcheol's direction where he was greeted by the nethers crimson eyes staring onto him before lingering for a second to the silver haired cloud denizen.

"But I believe I should inform you that I can see quite a number of negative auras resembling that of demon beasts roaming around in a few distance ahead." The nether continued with a huff before turning his back.

"Moody as always" Jun heard the denizen mumble before smirking and briskly walking his way to the nether and asking how far were the auras.

"Fifth eben tree northwest, we should probably start looking for the source before they see us." The noble nether answered the cloud denizen and slowly veered his sight to Jun. 

"What do think so Lord Wen?" The nether asked with a cold tone appearing to be very unctuous. Jun wasn't liking the way the nether noble spoke to him but he brushes it off to the side to focus on the given task at hand. 

The man was obviously tired and was probably feeling at edge so he couldn't really blame him if he thinks about it. To add to that, was the fact that nether dwellers aren't really a very happy bunch. They prefer to mope inside their ginormous caves, sit under their glowing skia trees or mine their sorrows inside their crystal pits. At least that's what Jun believes.

"I do agree with you Lord Choi, but where we are right now is not the best place for me to look for the source. I would like to reach the middle of the northern part of the forest to make sure I cover everything properly" replied Jun as placidly as he can.

"And besides, it's just an eben tree ahead." He continued.

"Well if that is the case, I don't think it will be bad if we walk just a few steps ahead Cheol." Junhui's attention perked up a notch after hearing the lack of honorifics from the denizen while speaking to the gloomy nether.

Usually, nobles would only call each other by their names if they are very comfortable and trust one another. In fact, he hasn't heard any noble other than his father and the other middle ground heads casually talk to each other like this. He needs to also include himself together with Minghao, Soonyoung and Chan.

"We just need to be careful and avoid them as much as we can and I'm sure we can rely on your abilities to look out for any of their movements, right?" The nether only replied with a huff and turned his back to walk to the eben tree.

Just when Jun thought that he was not going to reply he blurted a quite "Han, I'm just reminding you that we are not here for a stroll in the forest like we used to."

"I know Cheol, I know."

Mingyu - Middle Ground - Western Lucid Forest

"I uhh, so do you think it's in this part of the forest we will find the source?" Mingyu stuttered out his words, he had already introduced himself to the noble middle grounder and vice versa and he was running out things to say. The silence was already beginning to become uncomfortable and he wanted to ease it a little. 

"Lord Kim, if I know we wouldn't be walking in the middle of this forest with a great chance being killed" the middle grounder replied curtly causing Mingyu to unconsciously shut his mouth. They were once again swolled with silence and Mingyu tried all his best to not make a sound in order to not aggravate the other man more. 

"I'm sorry Lord Kim" Mingyu was still trying to accustom himself from the silence when he heard the other man apologize timidly. 

"I'm just tired and worried, I did not mean to act so rudely against you. I apologize." Mingyu smiled, he too was tired and worried but none of his dear friends were injured unlike Minghao.

"I understand you lord Xu and I am not taking that against you. I am sorry for being quite a chatterbox as well." With both of them apologizing, the atmosphere felt lighter. Mingyu is still holding himself from speaking nonsense though.

A few seconds pass with their new found peace, Mingyu all of a sudden held his breath while putting a hand in front of Minghao halting them both on their tracks.

"There's a number of them ahead." The nether heard the other man let out a small gasp. 

"What? How many?" Minghao questioned after heaving a breath.

"One, two, five, seven, ten, thirteen." Mingyu tried to count.

"Fifteen, there's fifteen of them herding in one place and few scattered around. There's twenty-three of them in total." Mingyu tried to search again with what his vision will allow him see just to make sure.

"That's quite a lot" the middle grounder remarked and Mingyu huffed as a sign that couldn't agree more.

"How far did you say do we need to walk before we reach the middle?" Mingyu asked, this time with a hushed voice.

"The eben trees are planted for the sole purpose of marking important parts of this forest, the tallest one indicates that we're in the middle. So I'd say just a few distance ahead." Mingyu nodded and so they started to walk again, this time more watchful of their every move.

They were almost near the eben tree when the first demon beast showed itself, surprising them by its sudden appearance. 

The beast is a shadow mongrel, a rear but sinister type of demon. It was Mingyu's first time seeing one and it was surprisingly small compared to the size of what he pictured it to be based from his fathers description. 

The demon beast did not attack them at first sight, but instead looked at them as if it was observing their movements. 

Then it howled, and that's when Mingyu realized that maybe this shadow mongrel wasn't really built for fighting but for looking at their pray and alerting it's fold about their possible catch. 

With the shadow mongrels howl echoing allover the forest, Mingyu had to think fast. They still need to look for the source but if they can't find a way to stop these creatures from killing them, they might as well fail.

"Lord Xu I can create a barrier that will protect us from these creatures while you look for the source but it will take time and I will very much need your assistance while I make it." Mingyu grabbed the others shoulder as he presented his idea.

"So that means I need to stall them while you create the barrier? Am I correct?" Mingyu nodded.

"Very well then, let's hurry while they're still not here. The lesser beasts that we deal with the better it will be for the both of us.

*******

They were already under the eben tree. Mingyu has successfully created a barrier that sheltered the both of them from the demon beast with only a few blood splatters. He seated himself at a corner and concentrated in keeping the barrier up. 

As of the moment, the noble middle grounder is sitting on the ground under the dried leaves with his legs crossed. He was readying himself to search for any unusual flow of energy while outside of the barrier, three demon beast keeps on banging it the hopes of cracking it open. 

Mingyu closed his eyes in order to further will his energy to the barrier and make it stronger, for it is true that three demon beast couldn't easily take down the barrier he created, he is mostly sure that soon there will more than three of them here and by that time that happens he needs this barrier to be indestructible.

FACTS ABOUT THE FIC: 

• Cloud Denizens are also called as Astrals. They live in places which is considered to have high altitude which is why their capital is located at the top of the highest mountain, the moon mountain. Their realm which is known as the Astral cove is hidden by thick clouds.
• Eben trees are endemic only to the Middle Ground. This trees are pure black from its roots to its leaves. It is also very hard to grow them because it only lives in soil reach with a special mineral called Limeon.
• Skia trees are endemic and abundant only to the Nether Hollows. Crystal like and glowing, unlike the trees found at the Astral Cove and Middle Ground, these trees provide light instead of shade.

Notes: So if you squint you'll see a jealous Seungcheol..

And..

I also decided that I will update twice a month. Tell me what you think.. Byeee