Demon of Dawn and Dusk

It soon became obvious that the mist covering the mountain wasn’t mundane. There was something unnatural about it. We soon discovered that it hindered our spirit sense, making it difficult to notice anything beyond a certain range. The mist also hindered our mundane senses as well. Visibility was poor, and the mist muffled any noises we made. To me, it seemed as if I had cotton in my ears. The mist even affected smell and taste, which I tested by sniffing myself and licking my arm. This earned me odd looks from the others, but no one said anything.

Contrary to my expectations, the mist wasn’t cold at all. In fact, it felt warm, though not in a good way. It made everything humid and sticky. Not long after our group entered the mist, I felt sweat dripping down my back. All in all, it was an unpleasant experience. The crimson robes I wore just made it worse. I couldn’t imagine how Cultivator Willow felt, considering she covered her entire body with a thick black coat.

What made things worse was that in order to get to the bottom of the mountain, we had to navigate through a stone maze. Unlike the other side of the mountain, nothing grew in this area. It was all barren. Boulders and rocky outcroppings that towered over us littered the area, forming a natural maze of sorts. Combined with the mist that hindered our senses, and it would be easy to lose one’s way. We couldn’t even use the sun as a reference point, since the mist hid the sky from us.

When we first entered the maze, we tried climbing atop the boulders and rocky outcroppings. However, when we reached a certain height, a powerful force pressed down on our bodies and prevented us from going any higher. Climbing over the maze wasn’t an option. Neither could we disperse the mist. We tried to do so using a few of our mystic arts, but nothing worked for long. The mist reformed immediately afterwards.

Now I saw why we had until sunset. A few miles was nothing to cultivators like us. At most it would only take us a few hours to travel that distance. However, it would take us some time to get through this stone maze and make it to the bottom of the mountain. And this was just the first area. If the rest of the valley was as difficult to navigate through as the maze, then there was a good chance that we wouldn’t make it to the other side in time.

As we walked through the mist, the four of us shared some details of our abilities. We should have done this before entering the mist, but thanks to me, we didn’t get the chance. Still, it didn’t look like the others held it against me.

Cultivator Willow was a demonic cultivator who used blood mystic arts, as I suspected, while Cultivator Harlow was a spirit doctor who specialized in healing and poisons. He also knew a bit about arrays, which could come in handy later on. Clarissa, of course, was a sword dancer who also knew a few Wind mystic arts. And of course, I was a physical refiner who specialized in unarmed combat and Fire mystic arts.

After some discussion, we decided to have Cultivator Willow and Cultivator Harlow walk in the middle, while I walked in the front and Clarissa took up the rear. If something or someone attacked us from the front or from behind, our melee fighters would keep them occupied while the others supported them.

As our group traveled through the stone maze, we remained alert and vigilant. The stone maze and the mist made this area the perfect place for an ambush. If someone or something decided to sneak up on us, we wouldn’t notice them until they were right on top of us.

However, nothing happened at first. We journeyed through the stone maze, taking care not to lose our way. This was difficult without any reference points, but we made due. We made sure to stay close together, so we didn’t lose each other in the mist. Cultivator Harlow also brought out a brush and some ink he carried within his storage ring and marked our path. That way, if we ever got turned around, we would know where to go.

What I considered the strangest part of all was that we didn’t encounter any of the other exam participants. The mountain wasn’t that large and we all entered the mist through the same path. We should’ve found at least one of them, or at least a sign of their presence. Instead, we found nothing of them. I suspected that the mist and the stone maze kept us all separated.

A few hours after we entered the mist, Clarissa stopped and called out to us.

“There is something lurking nearby,” she said, pulling a sword out of her storage ring and holding it at the ready.

The rest of us stopped and looked at her.

“How do you know?” Cultivator Willow asked in a skeptical voice. “I don’t see anything with my spirit sense.”

Clarissa looked all around us, a wary expression on her face.

“I’m attuned to the movements of the air around us,” she explained. “There is something nearby, though I can’t pinpoint its exact location. It seems to blend in with the mist around us. If I hadn’t been keeping an eye out, I wouldn’t have noticed anything amiss. Even then, I just barely sensed it.”

I exchanged looks with Cultivator Willow and Cultivator Harlow, before nodding. Clarissa was a Wind cultivator. We’d be fools not to heed her words. And if she was wrong, then no matter. It was better to be safe than sorry.

I pulled out the defensive magic treasure that Cultivator Raphael gave me, the white tortoise shell inscribed with magic symbols, and spoke the incantation to activate it. The symbols on the shell glowed with yellow light, before the tortoise shell started hovering in the air around me. Keeping the tortoise shell readied like this drained my internal qi by a small but consistent amount, which was why I hadn’t prepared it earlier.

The others made their own preparations as well. Cultivator Willow pulled out a black metal spike from her storage ring. It was about the length of my forearm and covered in reddish stains. She spoke an incantation. The metal spike glowed with a crimson light before hovering in the air around her, similar to the way my tortoise shell magic treasure hovered around me. The metal spike emitted an air of bloodthirstiness.

Cultivator Harlow pulled out six silver needles from his storage ring and held each one between his fingers. The tip of each needle was coated in a sinister looking green liquid. When he noticed me staring at his needles, Cultivator Harlow gave me a benevolent-looking smile. It sent shivers down my spine. I made a mental note to avoid making enemies of him.

The four of us continued on our way. After Clarissa’s warning, I kept an eye out with my spirit sense, trying to see if I could find whatever was lurking nearby. However, I didn’t sense anything. After a while, a part of me started to doubt Clarissa. What if she hadn’t sensed anything at all? What if it had just been a trick of her mind. Still, I remained vigilant.

About half an hour after Clarissa’s initial warning, I felt something faint brush up against my spirit sense for a split second. However, when I focused my attention on that area, I sensed nothing amiss. I almost dismissed it as a figment of my imagination, but then I felt it again. I stopped and took a stance.

“Did you feel that, Cultivator Darian?” Cultivator Willow asked.

I nodded without turning to face her. It seemed that she felt the same thing as well.

“Yes, though just barely,” I said. “I can’t tell where it is.” I glanced back at the others. “What about the rest of you?”

The others shook their heads.

“I can’t sense anything at all,” Cultivator Harlow said with a grim look on his face. “It seems that my spirit sense isn’t as powerful as yours or Cultivator Willow’s, Cultivator Darian.”

“It’s moving too fast,” Clarissa said, her eyes darting around. “I can’t determine its exact location. It seems to be everywhere.”

My blood ran cold as I considered another possibility.

“Or there’s more than one creature lurking about,” I said.

Just as I said this, a shadowy and ghostlike figure leapt from a nearby boulder, pouncing towards Clarissa.

“Look out!” I warned.

I started to make hand seals in order to attack the shadowy figure with a mystic art, but then I sensed something leap towards me. I turned to face this new threat. Clarissa would have to fend for herself.

The shadowy figure leaping towards me blended in with the mist, making it difficult to discern any details about it. The only things I could tell for sure were that it was about the size of a large dog and quadrupedal. It slashed its front legs towards me, and a series of claw projections made from grayish-blue qi shot out towards me.

I directed the tortoise shell magic treasure to intercept the claw projections and block them from reaching me. The shell’s yellow glow intensified and formed a shield made from yellow qi. The claw projections hit the shield with solid sounding thuds.

This gave me enough time to finish forming the hand seals for my mystic art. I pointed a finger at the shadowy figure. It tried to retreat back into the mist, but it was already too late. A small bead made from crimson flames emerged from my finger tip before flying towards the shadowy figure. Heat washed over the area around me. As the bead rushed towards the figure, it grew larger and larger until it became a fist-sized fireball.

The shadowy figure let out a yowl and launched claws projections to try and stop the fireball, but to no avail. The fireball engulfed the shadowy figure, incinerating it within seconds.

A sense of imminent peril filled me, and I noticed another shadowy figure sneaking up behind me. Instead of claw projections, it attacked me with its actual body. Somehow, I managed to dodge its strikes and retaliate with some of my own. The figure was swift and nimble, however, and it avoided my attacks with ease. It jumped away from me, before snarling in my direction. This afforded me a good look at the creature.

It resembled a cat, though its body was thinner and sleeker than any cat I had ever seen. The color of its fur matched the mist that surrounded us, including the way it seemed to swirl about. The creature’s eyes were grayish-blue, similar in color to the claw projections from earlier. It took me a moment to recognize what it was.

The creature was a Mist Cat, a type of spirit beast with an affinity for Water and excellent concealment abilities. These concealment abilities made Mist Cats superb ambush predators, allowing them to sneak up on their prey with ease. They were also fast and agile.

In terms of overall power, Mist Cats were about late Rank One. Despite their many strengths, Mist Cats had poor defensive abilities and low stamina. Protracted fights weren’t their strong suit. Unless they caught their prey unawares, they weren’t that difficult to deal with.

While I had never seen a Mist Cat before, I knew a lot about them thanks to Astra and Cultivator Raphael. In the months leading up to the entrance exam, the both of them had me study all kinds of spirit beasts and their various characteristics. At the time I thought it was because of all the time I spent hunting demon beasts, but I now realized that they were preparing me for this portion of the entrance exam.

The Mist Cat in front of me snarled, before it pounced towards me. I directed the tortoise shell magic treasure to block it, before I started making hand seals. The Mist Cat was faster and more agile than me, so I wasn’t going to bother trying to hit it with my fists.

When it realized what I was up to, the Mist Cat looked panicked before it turned around to run back into the mist. I finished with my hand seals by that point and spat out a serpent made of crimson fire. The serpent flew through the air towards the fleeing Mist Cat. The spirit beast was fast, but it wasn’t faster than the fire serpent. Despite the Mist Cat’s attempts at evasion, it wasn’t long before the fire serpent caught up to it and incinerated it.

With my two assailants now gone, I turned my attention to the rest of my group. Like me, each of my companions was attacked by two Mist Cats. One Mist Cat lay on the ground near Cultivator Willow. It looked dried up, like all the moisture had been sucked out of it. Cultivator Willow fended off the other one using her black metal spike. Cultivator Harlow had already dealt with both of his. They lay on the ground, their mouths covered in foam. He was helping Clarissa, who was having a little trouble dealing with her second Mist Cat. Her first one lay on the ground, cut in half.

Even as I watched, the rest of my group finished off the remaining Mist Cats. Cultivator Willow struck hers with the black metal spike. The magic treasure drained the Mist Cat of all its blood, until it became nothing more than a desiccated corpse. Cultivator Harlow distracted the Mist Cat attacking Clarissa, giving her the opening she needed to decapitate it.

The fight had lasted a minute at most, but it felt like it had been much longer than that. A sense of elation filled me as I realized that we had faced a real life or death situation, and won. However, now was not the time to get complacent. I surveyed the area around us with my eyes and my spirit sense but didn’t see anything. Even so, I remained vigilant, just in case.

“Is everyone all right?” I asked while keeping an eye out.

Cultivator Harlow and Clarissa nodded, though they both looked a little pale.

“We’re a little shaken, but we’re fine,” Cultivator Harlow said.

Cultivator Willow let out a sigh.

“I got a little careless and one of the damned things managed to hit me,” she said in a wry voice and gestured to her arm. That part of her cloak now had a gash through it. “I’m not injured, just a little embarrassed.”

I let out a chuckle.

“Considering how formidable Mist Cats can be, things could have been a lot worse,” I said. “Thankfully, Junior Sister Clarissa managed to sense them earlier. Otherwise, they would have caught us off guard.”

Clarissa looked both pleased and embarrassed by my words. She opened her mouth to respond, but Cultivator Willow spoke up first.

“Indeed, Cultivator Darian,” she said, turning to face my junior sister. “Thank you, Cultivator Clarissa.”

Clarissa grimaced and flinched at Cultivator Willow’s words. When she realized what she had done, Clarissa’s eyes widened and she stammered out an apology.

“I-I’m sorry, Cul-Cultivator Willow,” she said. “That was-…I didn’t mean-…”

Cultivator Willow shook her head and waved her hand.

“Think nothing of it, Cultivator Clarissa,” she said. “I’m from the Myriad Rivers province as well, and I’m well aware of Clan Wind Dance’s attitude towards demons and demonic cultivators. Frankly, I’d be surprised if you weren’t a little wary and afraid of someone like me.”

Wait, Cultivator Willow was from the Myriad Rivers province as well? Was that why she displayed an interest in my relationship with Clan Wind Dance? Perhaps, yet I found myself dissatisfied with that answer. My intuition told me that there was more to it than Cultivator Willow let on. Perhaps she had a grudge against Clan Wind Dance. If so, that gave me all the more reason to befriend her. It was something we had in common.

Still, I was glad that Cultivator Willow hadn’t taken offense to Clarissa’s reaction. In my experience, cultivators were an arrogant and prideful lot. For them, even the slightest insult needed to be repaid in full; often with interest.

Thinking about that just reminded me of Cultivator Diana. I sighed in my mind. That was going to be a headache to deal with. I just hoped that she wouldn’t try to pull something during the entrance exam. If she wanted to get revenge on me for disrespecting, I could deal with that, as long as she waited until after we were inner disciples of the Dawn and Dusk Sect.

“Even so, I apologize, Cultivator Willow,” Clarissa said, shaking her head. “My upbringing isn’t an excuse to treat my comrades and fellow disciples poorly.”

Cultivator Willow studied Clarissa for several moments before nodding.

“Hmm,” she said. “Maybe there’s hope for you after all.”

Cultivator Harlow, who had been standing off to the side this entire time, spoke up.

“Clan Wind Dance despises demons and demonic cultivators I take it?” he asked.

Clarissa hesitated, before nodding.

“They have strong ties to several Righteous sects within the Myriad Rivers province,” she said. “Including the Thousand Blade Sect.”

That was new to me. In all the years that I lived on Mt. Wind Dance, I never heard anything about this. Then again, I was ignorant of Clan Wind Dance’s inner workings, let alone their relationships with other clans and cultivation sects. However, I found it interesting that Clan Wind Dance had ties with the Thousand Blade Sect. Like the Dawn and Dusk Sect, it was one of the Seven Great Northern Sects. As its name implied, it was a sect whose arts focused on the sword and the saber.

Was that why Cultivator Clemont brought Clarissa to the Dawn and Dusk Sect instead of a sect closer to Mt. Wind Dance? I suspected so. He wanted to keep his daughter out of my uncle’s reach.

“Interesting,” Cultivator Harlow said, before looking at me with a speculative gleam in his eyes. “It makes me wonder how they managed to produce someone like Cultivator Darian.”

The other two looked at me as well. I narrowed my eyes at Cultivator Harlow.

“As I said earlier, my relationship with the rest of Clan Wind Dance is complicated,” I said in a cold voice. “I would appreciate it if you didn’t pry into my business, Cultivator Harlow.”

“I apologize, Cultivator Darian,” he said. “I was simply curious.”

For some reason, when he said that, it reminded me of Cultivator Thurstan. Were they related? I didn’t think so. While they were both skinny and pale-skinned, that was the only thing they had in common. That, and the way their curiosity compelled them to ask inappropriate questions.

Then again, I wasn’t one to speak. The only thing I had in common with my father when it came to appearances were my eyes. Otherwise, I resembled my kin on my mother’s side. Considering how Clan Wind Dance treated me thus far, compared to how Astra treated me, I found that I preferred it this way.

“Save your questions for later then,” I said. “Maybe I’ll feel like sharing my story after we finish with this final test. Until then, I advise you to keep your curiosity to yourself.”

“Very well, Cultivator Darian,” Cultivator Harlow said with a shrug, before giving me a mysterious smile.

I shook my head, before helping my companions collect the Mist Cat corpses. Their hides were useful for creating concealment type magic treasures, so they sold for a decent price. To my regret, I burned the Mist Cats I fought to ashes, so I came away from this fight with nothing.

After we collected the corpses, we continued on our way.