The team made their way carefully across the field, grabbing everything that they thought might be valuable, while being careful not to kill the plants, even when they needed a portion of the roots for their training.
It was a bit odd seeing these strong warriors being so delicate with flowers and weeds, but if it meant that they could come back here in a month or two and harvest the same resources again, it was well worth the effort.
Although they had met up with a group from the clergy, it was rare for people to head this far into the wilderness, and with so much ground to cover, and only an aerial scan to indicate that there might be resources, the chances were that nobody else would return here after the report was filed that they had harvested in this region.
It took them nearly an hour to finish their work and make it to the cavern, where all the team members realized that they had a real problem on their hands. They had found so many other resources that they had filled their bags already, and they were only at the third stop. Well, technically the second stop, as the first one hadn’t been one of the intended map points to harvest resources.
“If we pack the moss a bit more tightly we might make room for one more stop, but if it’s a large leafy plant, or a flower that shouldn’t be crushed, we will be really short on space.” One of the warriors noted.
They had loaded up with the moss, but the mages had filled their bags with the flowers and leaves here in this field, where they had actually come to gather crystal from the cave.
“Alright, same formation as before. I will keep Hawk in reserve, but here in the darkness, we will have Thor and Rae.” Karl explained.
He felt Rae’s amusement at the thought of Thor stomping around happily smashing all the crystals that they were here to gather.
“On second thought, I will keep Thor in reserve as well, and Rae will help me with the scouting duties on point. The golems will take up the rear, and the rest of you mingle your ranks, warrior then mage. You all know the drill.” He amended.
The group adjusted their positions and prepared their flashlights with a rapid round of cranking the chargers, just to make sure that the batteries were absolutely, completely charged.
Unlike Karl, who had very little reason to be afraid of the dark, the others were much more comfortable in the light. Rae decided that was the perfect excuse for her to scout ahead, so she would be out of the range of the lights, and vanished into the cave.
[It’s shiny in here. Oh, pretty stone. That’s for me, and a bit of glowing moss for my nest, and a mushroom.] Rae happily narrated her scouting mission.
[Just remember that we’re here to help the others level up so that they can catch up to us, so don’t loot everything before they get there.] Karl laughed at the Bloodbath Spider’s excess.
[They’re not valuable, just pretty. You can come in now, the entrance doesn’t have anything scary in it.]
Karl stepped inside, and for the first time noticed that there was something strange about his night vision. It was never truly dark in the Academy, with the lights in the yard, the dim lighting in the hallways and all the other light sources around.
But inside the cavern, before the others entered with their lights, Karl could see in a whole new way.
Not how Hawk saw in the dark, as that still relied on some level of light being present, but how Rae saw in the dark, through a combination of thermal imaging and echolocation. Each footstep made his surroundings seem more vivid, and he could see the difference where there was cold water running over the warmer stones.
It was no wonder that Rae liked it in the dark, she was perfectly in her element.
Then the group followed behind him, lighting up the tunnel with their lanterns and flashlights, and Karl’s night vision naturally shifted back to the more detailed low light resolution that he had inherited from Hawk.
Rae had been correct, none of the students were interested in the remains of the interesting objects that she had found, and the spider carefully led them down to the first chamber of the cavern system.
“There’s one. I see one of the crystals.” A mage whispered.
One wouldn’t be nearly enough, but it meant that there were, or had been, some here.
“Leave the first as a marker that they are still here, and let’s move further into the cave to check for more. Rae, do you see what that one looks like? That is the type of crystal that they need.” Karl commented.
[On it.]
[There is another good room up here, but something is in it. There is a pond in the middle, and I can sense something moving under the water.] Rae reported.
[Stay back, and we will approach it as a group.]
“There is a cavern up ahead, with something living in the water. Rae doesn’t know what it is, so prepare for a fight.” Karl reported.
He moved slowly to the entrance, where Rae was hiding directly above his head, blended in with the stone of the wall, and followed her gaze to the softly glowing waters of the pond. It was magnificent, giving off a dim glow of magical power, and the bottom was lined with crystals.
There were hundreds of them in this room, but something felt off, like taking any of them would bring about a backlash.
“Wait before you pluck any of the crystals on the walls. I have a feeling that they’re related to whatever is in the lake.” Karl warned the group, who were about to go into a frenzy at the sight of so many resources.
They paused for a moment, but it was obvious that they thought he was being overly cautious on nothing more than the word of a spider.
One of the warriors used a stick that he had brought in with him and splashed the surface of the water, waiting for a response, but there was nothing, just ripples in the placid surface.
The mages hesitated for a few more seconds, then one of them used a knife to pop a crystal from the wall. Still no response from anything, and the others smiled in victory.
The mage took off his glove to examine his prize, and a flash of light filled the room, engulfing and blinding everyone, as well as forcing Rae back into the beast space.
[I told them there was something here.] She muttered as she waited for her eyes to adjust.
The first to adapt was Thor, who had been sitting with his eyes closed as he chewed, and he relayed the situation to Karl.
[There are things here. Dangerous things, I will go out and chase them away.]
The Lightning Cerro took action as he spoke, and his bugling call to arms echoed through a much larger space than Karl had expected. They couldn’t be in that same cavern, unless it had collapsed, it sounded more like they were outdoors, next to a mountain valley.
The noise was enough to hold whatever was there at bay for the few seconds that it took Karl’s eyes to adjust, but what he saw was nothing he could have anticipated.