Iris and Flav’s mission 2

Cricket

Blinking his eyes a couple of times Flav kept his eyes on the path in front of him and asked, "Shouldn't we move already?"

Iris nodded back and took a look at the map they were given.

Entering the forest Flav followed Iris and glanced at the map every once in a while. Fortunately, the map was very descriptive and showed them what to avoid. It even had some notes left behind by predecessors to follow.

The wind rustled through the leaves as the large trees blanketed the skies in a warm embrace. Silent Sunny forest was a beautiful place, Flav thought as he smelled the refreshing scent of old wood.

Pointing with his finger to the right Flav contemplated something. "Can we go that way for a while? There is something I want to check." Flav requested.

Iris looked deep into his eyes for a while before nodding. She followed Flav's lead as he went under a giant white magnolia and watched as he stopped every few steps to rub his chin in thought. 'What's he searching for?' Iris asked herself, seeing what he was doing.

"We shouldn't deviate from the predetermined path much," she coldly told him.

"Ah, my bad. Just give me a few more minutes," Flav turned around with an awkward smile and put his hands in a pleading manner.

Iris nodded again but kept her guard up seeing how weird he was acting.

Flav became a bit impatient after that and started furiously looking around. He upturned every small rock and twig on the way. Any sound they heard, Flav would already be near it, checking, examining, and pondering.

After walking for 10 more minutes, Flav spotted a small hole in a tree and stopped moving. His eyes brightened and he appeared near it instantly. He reached his hand inside the hole and grabbed something before discreetly storing it.

Flav turned back to see Iris disinterestedly looking at him with a raised brow. As if they had a tacit understanding already, Flav only smirked at Iris who nodded back and walked in the original direction they came from.

After fifteen minutes of walking Iris and Flav returned to the tree they passed by and looked at the map again.

"We were lucky we didn't find any beasts on the way. The vice principal provided us a good path in this forest." Flav started after walking for a while.

Iris nodded after a few seconds, she opted to not talk.

"We will arrive at the first checkpoint after a few hours it seems," Flav tried to start a conversation again.

"That's true."

Flav didn't expect to get an answer but still smiled when he did. The two conversed on the way, or for better choice of words, Flav talked and Iris briskly replied every now and then. Finally after one hour being in the silent sunny forest the two halted their advance.

SCREEEECH!

Flav and Iris heard the mighty voice and estimated it to be a tier 2 beast. They looked above them and saw a purple feathered Goshawk flying above them. It appeared to be roaming the area in search of food.

Calmly, Flav and Iris limited their movement to not catch its attention as the possibility of it attacking them is large. The Goshawk might not be able to do anything to them if they fought, but it could still attract the attention of more beasts.

Fortunately for them, the Goshawk didn't notice them and continued on its way. The two proceeded on their way after a few minutes but stopped every now and then when a beast appeared and let it pass them by.

The journey was weirdly enough, boring. The two didn't feel the danger that they had known when they always heard the name silent sunny forest, but felt a relaxed atmosphere that shouldn't have been possible.

It was only thanks to Ouht and Daemon for giving them this map which allowed them a near complete safe passage.

"This place feels different and look, that sign isn't on the map. Are we sure we are on the right track?" Flav stopped after pondering for a while.

Flav had felt that something wasn't right for a while but couldn't put his finger on it, his own question came as a wake up call which made him start looking around him. Flav was after all a tier 4 cultivator, his senses, awareness, and energy were stronger than Iris.

He looked left and right with cold and keen eyes and after a few minutes, he spotted a peculiar shape in the surroundings. The grass that was green before suddenly turned blue.

"I think we entered an array. For someone to be able to let us enter without feeling anything even with our guards up mustn't be underestimated. Be careful," Flav told Iris, taking a fighting stance.

Iris didn't wait for Flav to say anything and already had a Mana shield surround them both. They had no idea what kind of array they landed in. It could be a killing array or an illusion one, maybe even a rare mixed array, or something entirely different.

The person who entrapped them had enough experience and power to conceal the array and let them in without them feeling anything and although they had no idea who that might be, the two didn't seem to have any thoughts about giving up or dying.

"Interesting, hehehehe."

A hoarse creepy voice traveled through the wind grinding the two's ears and putting them on edge. Flav turned right and left trying to find the source but couldn't, which made him quirk his brows.

"Who are you? Why did you capture us?"

Iris asked without a hint of nervousness, her crossed arms as she looked forward in the face of danger, relaxed the on edge Flav.

Flav looked back at Iris with wide-eyed eyes. Why was she so calm? How can she appear without worry? He had many questions and he just saw a side to Iris that he hadn't noticed before. Iris' coldness appeared more blaring.

The voice noticed Iris' brashness and appeared amused.

"Me? I am your new…

"MASTER! HAHAHAHHA."