It took an hour before the buses were cleaned, restocked and refuelled for the trip back to the Seminary Academy, which was set to take over ten hours.
Compared to flight, it was incredibly slow, but in terms of cost-effectiveness, Karl assumed that it was much better. He didn’t know much about what it cost to run a helicopter, but it seemed like it would be a lot.
Karl and the team were the only ones on the bus who weren’t part of the church, and the returning clerics seemed curious about why they were along on the mission, but two Inquisitors had come to sit in front of them, and nobody was brave enough to speak around them, in case the team was in some sort of trouble.
Both of the Inquisitors looked totally wiped, probably from dealing with slackers for the last couple of weeks, and Karl nudged Doug, then handed him a bit of the moss for tea.
“How about you make everyone a nice, refreshing cup of tea? I think that they’ve earned it.” He suggested.
Doug looked startled when he saw the moss. “Where did you get this? It looks freshly picked.”
Karl shook his head. “It’s from a previous mission. But I have ways to store resources that don’t let them spoil. I know it’s usually dried better, but it should be alright. We made a pot the first day we got it, and it was fine.”
Doug nodded and got out his teapot, with a heating element.
A few minutes later, a warm and earthy aroma filled the bus, and Doug poured a thermos full of tea, which he passed forward up the bus.
Each person it passed poured a small cup, and when the thermos made it back to Doug, it still had a little in the bottom.
He topped off his cup and started to brew another pot with the same moss.
“It’s good for at least two batches, though the first is the most beneficial. I know that not many of our clerics are physical sorts, but it can still be useful to them.” He explained as the second pot steeped.
One of the Inquisitors turned back to talk to them. “That’s pretty good. Most of the time the moss is stale from storage, and the flavour is off. It makes better tea when it is freshly dried, but this isn’t too bad.”
“Thanks. I think I will put some cinnamon and nutmeg in the next batch, to liven up the flavour a bit.” Doug replied, as he added the spices to the pot.
“I heard that we get to do a bunch of Commander Rank tests this week. Who thinks they have it? Surely, not Karl. Though I wouldn’t be surprised if he went for Ascended already.” The Inquisitor asked.
Doug gestured around. “I think that all the rest of us are close enough to give the test a go. The Bureau is sending an attendant for Karl, so I’m not certain if we will get to test him at all, or if they’ll make him wait to do it in private.”
The Inquisitor laughed softly.
It made no difference to him. The Inquisition had immediate access to all the records either way. It was just a matter of who else knew how fast the most talented student of the year was advancing.
The Academy might want to hold off until the end of the Semester or until next Semester’s midterm for the official test, to make it look like the rate was slower than it really was. The Elite Rankings were public information once they were published, so eventually everyone would know, but changing the date of the official recording could give those watching a false impression of how things were going.
All the Elite Agencies had at least a few agents who were waiting on official tests, but had advanced months or even a year earlier.
But for most Elites, it was a point of pride to show off their advancements, especially to Commander Rank. For the clerics, it was an especially large jump, as the Commander Rank marked the High Priests and Priestesses.
If Doug could make that, he would get much better assignments at work, and would probably get a few assistants assigned to him to do the annoying parts.
For the others, it was mostly semantics, as they already had the power, but it would help them get promotions and better paying jobs. Not that they particularly needed the money, but you could never go wrong with a little better quality of life.
The bus rolled through the wilderness, and Karl noticed a group of Ogres in the distance.
“Are there groups in this zone?” He asked.
The inquisitor shook his head. “No, this zone is already cleared, and there hasn’t been anything spawning here.”
“There are Ogres over there. They don’t look fully grown, so likely low Ascended or high Awakened.” Karl informed him, with a gesture toward the tiny figures in the distance.
The Inquisitor took out binoculars to see if he could tell what Karl was talking about. Sure enough, there were Ogres, and they were headed away from the patrolled zones.
The Inquisitor sent a quick text message and sighed. “Thanks. They will take care of it. If you see any other monsters in the area, please let us know. Sometimes there are a few that slip through the cracks during an operation like this, and they don’t always get picked up again until they’re near civilization.”
The buses were moving too fast on the oiled gravel road to send Hawk out to scout, but he could sit on the roof and keep watch, and relay anything he saw to Karl. The wind in his feathers made Hawk happy, and even though he didn’t see much of note, he at least got to be outside while the other two slept.
The convoy trundled down the roads all day, and as it started to get dark, Hawk returned to his space to sleep. Rae considered taking up his spot on the roof, but she was fairly sure that the other drivers would panic if she just appeared on top of the bus unexpectedly.
It was after midnight when they made it to the Seminary Academy, and Karl knew that it was going to be a rough night, but Doug led them to the same wing that he had been staying in last time. It wasn’t the same room, but at least he would know his way around.
“I will see you all at breakfast. I hope you got enough sleep on the bus because it’s going to be an early morning.” The cleric joked.
Bob nodded. “We know the routine. I will see you in the morning.”
The routine of the Seminary Academy didn’t change for anyone, no matter how late they got back to the Academy, and when the sun came up, there was a knock at Karl’s door, waking him up for breakfast, and he could hear the Mackenzie siblings getting ready across the hall.
They were much more enthusiastic than usual, as they were looking forward to taking the Commander Rank test. That was enough to get them motivated even at the break of dawn. The only other one that Karl knew who was that enthusiastic in the morning was Thor, and that was because he knew that there were countless people here to visit.