Red Ash Mountain

"Layen, where are the rest?" Enopy asked with a curious expression.

"Soon after the wind blades hit you, a barrage of wind blades got the rest of us," Layen said as he continued to jump from tree to tree.

"We went separate ways. You're the first person I met."

"Oh, ok." Enopy said as they went back into deep silence.

"Someone should have died; the wolves should have gone after Kaito, Zow, and Eire, or else, Layen probably would be dead," Enopy thought before he cleared his head and went on with the journey.

"We're pretty close," Enopy said.

"Yea." Layen unnecessarily confirmed.

Enopy was behind Layen, but he could feel Layen's piercing gaze.

Enopy paid the feeling no mind, and looked into the distance, at the mountain whose figure could now be seen by more than half.

They soon reach the bottom of the mountain.

"Huh," Enopy felt his faint sense of danger peak; he was stunned in place with fear as he he soon pulled himself out of fear and said:

"So this is red ash mountain?" Enopy mumbled as he looked up at the weed-filled ashy mountain.

"You guys are finally here." In the midst of Enopy's admiring, a voice suddenly rang out.

Enopy pupils shrunk when he heard the voice behind him; he turned around as the voice continued,

"You guys took long. It is surprising to see, you survived, Enopy, and..." Kaito said as he inspected Enopy with his intrusive gaze.

He didn't finish his sentence, turned away, and looked at the incoming Zow.

Zow soon arrived.

Enopy and Layen said nothing and waited for Erie as uneventful hours went by. Then, Enopy could no longer keep his mouth shut and said:

"Where's Erie?"

"We lost her; she is most likely dead," Kaito replied with a blank expression.

"Oh" Enopy wasn't emotionally attached to her, so he kept his bland expression.

"So, what are we waiting here for?" He asked.

"The bloodsuckers get slightly weaker in the light," Kaito replied as he turned towards Enopy.

"Oh," Enopy said as he watched the sky get darker and darker.  

Hours passed, and no one said a word, as they went on with their business.

"Now," Kaito said as he stood up, and signaled for the rest to follow.

Layen, Enopy, and Zow gathered around Kaito and listened to what he had to say.

"Jump and don't stop jumping once they get a hold of your feet, say goodbye to life, the struggle is futile, and don't go in a straight line or step somewhere someone else has already been," Kaito said with a solemn expression.

They formed a line shoulder to shoulder, Enopy charged his fragrance in his legs; the rest activated their movement techniques.

"Go!" Kaito shouted.

They ran towards the bottom of the mountain and jumped; they activated their movement techniques to get more air time, Enopy limited the outburst of the fragrance in his feet, to the point where he could stay in the air while preserving the energy in his feet."

He looked at the rest and saw Kaito gathering orange fragrance under his feet like stepping stones.

Layen's technique seemed to be blue wind, in the form of waves that kept him moving, but it got smaller and smaller as time passed.

Zow was sitting on what seemed to be a purple cloud that moved at a fast speed, but parts broke off at times, Enopy could tell he would be the first one to touch the ground.

Time moved fast; they cleared what felt to be a lot of land, but in reality, they barely got away from the bottom of the mountain.

Enopy eventually had to touch the ground; he jumped immediately, and pushed the compressed aura, that he gathered in his arms, into his feet.

He activated his poorly made movement technique and looked down; he saw roots covered with eyes, spikes, and mouths.

"That's definitely out of a nightmare," Enopy thought as he looked away; he couldn't help but notice how small Layen's wind and Zows cloud got.

He had no time to worry about others, and began to gather energy through his aura, into his arms; he wasn't willing to use the fragrance in his core yet.

Layen soon fell, and Zow soon followed; they both made quick recoveries.

Enopy fell a while after and made a quick recovery.

Enopy, fell, recovery.

Layen and Zow, fell, recovered.

This process happened a bunch of times as days passed.

They found themself halfway up the mountain.

"Huuu, if only I was a manipulator," Enopy thought as he looked at Kaito skip from stone to stone.

He soon had to touch the ground; his feet landed on the ground, as he crouched and jumped up into the air.

He looked down "Shit!"; he released more energy from his feet, when he saw the giant root, reaching out for him.

He soon got out of its range.

"Oh yeah, I forgot to tell you guys that the roots get bigger the higher up the mountain you go, so be on guard," Kaito shouted without looking at them.

Layen and Zow soon fell, and jumped back up, as roots followed.

They had a pretty uneventful journey.

Enopy fell and jumped up. The roots were a lot bigger, which forced him to use more energy, causing his air time to be cut short.

He looked down but was troubled when he saw the root still following him.

"I have limited energy in my feet," Enopy thought as he dropped down towards the root.

He spinned around and kicked the root, the root plunged back at Enopy, Enopy turned his falling body towards the ground, and put himself in a crouching position, as he waited for the impact.

Seconds went by; the root reached Enopy, Enopy felt the root hit his feet, he made quick moves and jumped off of it.

He was flung into the air, if he was to pass regular people, he would not be seen, and to peak stage bodybuilders, he would look like nothing more than a white wisp.

He was ahead of the others by miles.

He collected energy during his flight and kept himself up while gathering energy. He was wary towards the ground, and what hid in it. He was forced to do everything in his power not to touch the ground; he knew his power, and, he knew he was no match for the bloodsuckers.