There were a suspicious number of magical plants in the area, that much was clear to everyone, but they were doing their best to collect what they could, not leaving much to regrow, unlike an area that could be safely farmed later.
The magical plants would attract more powerful monsters, and that was the last thing that the region needed when it was already short on Elites who were over the Awakened Rank. Most of the patrols only had one or two Ascended members, and Alice was the only Commander Rank Elite in the area before the Church Guard showed up.
Karl wasn’t certain of the strength that they brought with them, but there were at least a few Commander Ranked Guard Captains in the mix, if he had checked the uniforms right.
“We should start searching the area for freshly appeared Relics and hidden places of power, given the amount of change that the area has undergone. There are far too many resources here for it to be nothing but a mana surge.” Alice informed the Church Guard, who was technically in charge of the soldiers now.
He nodded in agreement, and began to issue orders to his troops to spread out and start keeping notes on the frequency of the plants, as well as the potency, if they could determine it.
The numbers would go up as they got closer to the centre of the disturbance, and the disturbance would be responsible for most of the increase in the number of powerful monsters, perhaps even for the whole extended combat region.
They never did find the source of the daily monster appearances, so it was possible that it simply hadn’t made itself known yet, and their group might be the first to stumble across it.
Fortunately, it wasn’t spawning anything above Commander Rank anywhere yet, since there were so few Royal and Monarch Rank elites to send out, and the handful of available Overlords had better things to do than stomp out a monster infestation two or more ranks beneath them.
The unit spread out in a wide line, while Hawk scouted overhead, leading them in a wide arc that would cover everywhere that he was finding magical plants, with the hope of finding whatever hidden good thing might help him advance again.
But he made certain that Rae and Lotus, who were scouting ahead, found the very best things before the army line got there, extracting them to be split between the mercenary Elites later. There was no good reason to let military command waste the best stuff on Elites who never saw the field outside mandatory missions.
Lotus was in heaven, surrounded by high grade magical plants all afternoon as the group moved in a winding spiral, trying to find the centre of the disturbance.
She was staying away from the group, but almost all the loot was going into Rae’s space for storage, and Karl could see that it was really starting to pile up, and that there was quite the variety in there.
They had even found more of the moss that was used to make tea, and harvested another whole log to go with the one that was in Thor’s space right now.
[You need to come here. There is a thing.] Rae insisted.
[I’m almost at the other end of the formation, give me a minute.] Karl replied, then turned to Tessa, who was beside him.
“I’ll be right back, Rae needs me for a thing.” He explained, then used all of his superhuman strength to launch himself through the trees at a run, headed for the spot where Rae and Lotus were waiting.
“What is the emergency?” Karl asked as he caught a tree not far from where Lotus was crouched on the ground, using the solid trunk to slow his momentum and drop gently to the ground.
Lotus looked up with a smile and pointed at a golden disc, formerly buried under the ground, and now exposed thanks to her efforts.
“What is it?” Karl whispered, confused, but feeling a familiar feeling of power.
“We’re standing in the ruins of a city. That, right there, is a System Stone.” Lotus whispered.
“You have to be shitting me.”
The System Stones were the Holy Relic whose magic was used to develop the Divine Serum. They were the source of the entire Nation’s hopes and power.
As far as anyone knew, there weren’t any more of them, the original Relic should have been unique and lost to history. But this one, other than the fact that it was covered in dirt, looked like it had been made only days before.
“Are there more?” Karl added.
Lotus shrugged. “There should be. I saw the diagram of the original formation as it was when it was first discovered. If we don’t move anything, and it is intact, the shape indicates that there should be another one right… here.”
She began to dig again, and another golden stone appeared from the ground, an arch brick, curved on the inner and outer edges, with tapered sides indicating that it was part of a circular formation.
So Karl moved to where he thought that the centre should be, based on where the other stones had been found.
The moment that he reached the point, golden light erupted from the ground in a hundred points all around him, and dirt was thrown away from the formation.
Words appeared in front of Karl’s eyes as the formation activated.
[Would you like to select randomly?]
Randomly select what? If there was an option to randomize, there should be an option to select deliberately.
“No” he thought, wondering if that would be enough for the magic.
[Gender, Species and Class remain unchanged. Generating Class Reward.]
That was too close, far too close. He had to warn Lotus.
“Don’t select the random option. Whatever you do, do not select the random option.” Karl warned her.
Lotus pouted, but she didn’t change, and Karl’s attention was pulled away by the magic of the System Stones.
[Class Skills Unlocked]
[Skill Book] Allows the Beast Master to record skills and teach them to others.
[Identification] Allows the Beast Master to discern the effects that magical materials will have on his partners.
[Mental Fortitude] You know you need it.
Karl blinked slowly. Were the System Stones throwing shade at him? That last ability’s description was almost certainly an open insult. But what Karl hated the most was that it wasn’t wrong, he did need mental fortitude because he needed to improve the spaces enough to allow the beasts to advance to Commander Rank.
Karl returned to the present as the magic faded, and found Lotus pouting in front of him.
“What if I could have been a dragon, or a Gryphon, or like an Angel or something?” She complained.
“What if you turned into a fat male half orc?” Karl countered.
Lotus considered that for a second. “With a big dick or a little one? I always kind of wanted to know what it was like to have a penis.”
Karl flicked the little Nature Priest on the forehead. “It might have even changed your Class from Nature Priest to something entirely different. For all you know, you could have had to start all over from nothing.”
The lights had drawn the rest of the unit to them, starting with the rest of their team, as the Lieutenant and the Church Guard were keeping the soldiers on task until they reached their destination.
Everyone stared at the System Stones, now clearly visible on a stone platform in the forest, untouched by time and intact.
“Are they functional?” Alice asked.
Lotus nodded. “Yes. They activated for both of us. But not for Rae. Karl says, don’t pick the random option, but if you’re lucky, it might turn you into a dragon.”
“And if I’m unlucky?” Alice replied.
“Who knows. Should we ask someone to try?”
Lotus seemed far too eager to see what happened when you randomized, but Alice was with Karl in her thinking. Magic this powerful could cause completely unexpected results if you allowed it to run amok.
Lotus dragged Dana, the only one in the party she could physically drag, to the centre of the platform, and the stone glowed again, while Dana stared at something only she could see.
Then she slowly began to smile.
“I learned a new Class Skill. Destruction. It increases the damage of all my spells.”
