Fire Dandelion: 100%

  Fire Dandelion (uncommon): The stem looks like it is holding up a mini star. Fire dandelions spread when the wind picks them up and carries them to an optimal spot. They can cause small fires.

  Snapping Vine 100%

  Snapping Vine (uncommon): This vine will lash out at any creature that comes close to touching it. The lashes can be violent.

  Clockwork Willow 100%

  Clockwork Willow (rare): The branches of this tree will move depending on the time of the day akin to a clock. The sap of this tree holds spatial aether and will cause slight time distortions.

  Vibrating Dahlia 100%

  Vibrating Dahlia (uncommon): This flower will vibrate violently. These vibrations are harmless unless you find yourself in a field of these flowers. The beautiful colors and sound the vibrations can produce make this a highly sought after flower.

  These were only some of the fascinating new plants that the group saw on their trek towards the cloud blade that Kumo had launched into the air. They were about three hours in and probably had another four hours to go.

  Thanks to his stats, he could stay behind to record and then catch up with the group escorting the class expected. On top of the new genomes, he had collected many new materials such as time sap from the clockwork willow. There wasn’t a notification for any levels yet, but he was certain there would be one soon.

  The new aethers he had found were worth this trek by themselves. He had found space, fire, heat, light, sound, and time aethers. It was interesting how much this high magic area was affecting wildlife. A lot of these plants wouldn’t have been magical if it wasn’t for all this atmospheric magic.

  He had only seen one animal so far and couldn’t catch it. It was a variation of a rabbit that could move faster than Synexus thought possible. It had slicked back dark brown fur and seemed to have enhanced hearing. He would keep trying even though it seemed impossible to catch.

  ***

  Vorin was on guard since they left the beach. He trusted Kumo and Prith’s assessment, but you never could be too safe. This was a new environment for everyone here and there was simply no guarantee that it would stay safe. He didn’t even like Synexus staying back by himself to collect genomes and materials for his skills. The only reason he agreed to it was because it was for his class. If he got his skills up, there was a chance they would become even more helpful towards their survival efforts.

  He checked in with Zuls quite often as she had skills that revolved around sensing animals. So far, she had only sensed the strange rabbit that Synexus was dying to catch for his skills. Even knowing that she would give him a warning when something approached the group, he wanted to be on his toes.

  Drackenn walked to his right, and they chatted about their strange surroundings. Every now and then Minily would hop in with input about something she has experienced before. She was like Synexus in that when their walk began, her guard dropped, and wonder filled her face as the plants started to get more exotic. The two of them would only add to Vorin’s anxiety.

  The class expected had to stop and rest every hour or so. They looked absolutely exhausted and Vorin couldn’t really blame them. It was a hot day, the terrain was difficult with the thick forest, and it had been nearly five hours since they left the beach. Some were still finding the energy to find the beauty in the island.

  Truth be told, Vorin just wanted to meet up with Kumo and Prith to have everyone back together already. That’s when he will finally drop his guard and relax. Of course, that’s also when they would need to start building a base camp. The objectives were to find whatever was drawing in ambient mana, figure out where in the ocean they were, and hold up somewhere safe until a new ship was crafted. They had their work cut out for them.

  This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source.

  ***

  Zuls, Shell, and Gene fell back to talk to Synexus who had just caught up to the group after, yet another plant caught his eye.

  “What was it this time?” Zuls said in an interested tone.

  “An aether enriched dragon shadow flower. I almost didn’t notice it. The flower looks like a shadow and only grows in the shadow of another flower. I have no idea why it says dragon in the name. I was hoping it could make me sprout wings or something.”

  Shell snickered, “if you had wings, you would probably plunder all the secrets from the cloud gardens.”

  “THERE’S CLOUD GARDENS?!” Synexus exclaimed in complete surprise.

  “Don’t get him started, Shell. He will now do everything within his skillset to find a cloud garden.”

  “I would like to visit a cloud garden as well. That sounds absolutely splendid.” Gene added.

  “See, Zuls, that’s three votes to one on finding a cloud garden.”

  “Woah Synexus, I never said I voted for it. My place is in the ocean.” Shell held her hands up in a defensive way.

  “See, Synexus, it’s a tie and we all know that the tie goes to the higher leveled class chosen.”

  “Kumo will be on our side though. I’m pretty sure Prith would be all about it too. Same with Minily.”

  “They don’t count since they aren’t in this conversations right now.” Zuls triumphantly added.

  From up in the front, Minily yelled back. “I absolutely do count! Cloud Gardens sound amazing!”

  “HA! That settles it!” Synexus said with a laugh.

  Shell and Zuls laughed before shrugging off the conversation. “First, you should probably go catch that rabbit. I can use one of my skills to approach it.”

  “I do want it’s genome, but I will do it on my own.”

  “You will try. That bunny was running much to fast for your current stats.” Gene would never let him forget that there was a longer journey ahead of him.

  “Whose side are you on?!”

  “I am on no side. I’m the most neutral owl in existence.”

  This got another laugh from everyone. After a minute or two the laughs from everyone died down and that’s when Vorin added to the conversation.

  “I’m glad everyone is getting along and finding some enjoyment on this trek, but we will be arriving shortly. Please focus and prepare yourself for whatever situations we may find ourselves in. Also, we will go to the cloud gardens when we figure out how to get off this island safely.”

  With that everyone silenced and focused on walking. They had estimated seven hours with the speed of the class expected, but after about six hours and twenty minutes they came to their destination.

  They all looked up at the beautiful waterfall as they approached. Sunset was starting and the orange light was reflecting off the gemstone mountains and onto every surface. This made the waterfall look like liquid gold pouring out of the cliff.

  Kumo and Prith were standing right outside the tree line waiting on them. When they finally got close enough, they directed their attention to the left. Against the beautiful orange, the completely black mansion looked like a void in the world.

  “We don’t have to worry about building a base camp. Someone already did it for us. It’s safe, we already cleared it.” Kumo was the first to speak while everyone was taking the sight in.

  “It looks pretty run down. Are you sure it’s safe for everyone to sleep in?” Vorin said with a cautious tone.

  “It’s perfectly safe. Just a little dusty. Kumo used her breeze to clear out most of it, but some cleaning will be necessary.” Prith assured his captain.

  “I can use my Accelerated Repair skill on the smaller damages to fix things up a bit.”

  “That’s a good idea, Synexus. Shell can you conjure some sea water to help clean?” Vorin immediately thought of the most efficient way to get things done.

  “Of course. I will assist Kumo in cleaning. Between her wind and my water, we should be able to be effective.”

  “Perfect. Let’s all work with each other to clean out some bedrooms for those without classes first. They are exhausted from the walk here.”

  Drackenn was standing off to the side and his deep voice broke into the conversation. “Minily and myself will also help. No one is above cleaning.”

  “Thank you. We sure appreciate the help.” Vorin had been nervous about giving them orders seeing that they were above his level. Even Shell was above him in levels which is why he had asked for her help instead of giving out an order.

  “Of course, we are all in this together. Synexus also saved my life.” Minily added as they all started walking towards the mansion.

  “You don’t owe me anything for that. All I saw was a person that needed help. You would have done the same thing.”

  “Sure, but not everyone would. You and I have kind hearts.”

  “Too kind sometimes.” Kumo said as she shot a glance at Synexus.

  He laughed and shook his head. Kumo always found a way to deliver a little friendly jab. She was his rival after all.

  “Oh, we found a library that I know you will love. There is also this crazy magic lock in the basement. There are black bricks with flecks of colors I’ve never seen before all over the place too. You will want to touch them, I’m sure.” Kumo was walking right next to him now and she sounded excited to tell him.

  “Those sound like things I will be very interested in inspecting. I wonder whose home this is.”

  “A magical lock you say. I think I know what is drawing in the ambient mana, but I will need to inspect things for myself before I can be confident. What you describe couldn’t possibly exist anymore unless this lock has somehow preserved it. What I do know for certain is that the people who lived here were ancient. I will be interested in this library as well.” Gene said this in his normal cryptic tone.

  “Well, that sounds promising!” Synexus’ excitement rose as they approved the steps to the two big doors at the front of the mansion.

  “I’m intrigued too. I have not experienced much except for the ocean. This will be an amazing story to take back to the Wave.”

  “I’m just happy we aren’t spending the night on the ocean anymore.” Zuls added as they walked through the doorway into the magically lit room.