Rezar cursed in annoyance, he was already so tired of sitting on this ant, his butt felt extremely chaffed and raw from the constant sitting down on the back of the giant fire ant, the only thing that had really helped him had been his regeneration, if it was for anything other than that, he was sure he would have very bloody legs and clothes. They were close, they just left the forest behind them, and a two-hundred-meter-long plain was spread out in front of them.
At the end was the dark horizon, but it was gladly lighting up as the sun rose behind their backs and the shimmering light of a crystal blue sea lit up in all of its glory and splendor. Rezar had to appreciate the beauty of such a sight, it was graceful beyond compare and he was glad he had at least made it this far.
At the end of the two-hundred-meter plain with ankle length grasses and flowers was a cliff, or better yet it could be said to be the opening of a basin.
It was in the shape of a moon, but if it was looked out from above, the basin was shaped like the omega symbol.
Rezar estimated its rim to be at least 10 kilometers in diameter. It was like the opening of a cave, but it should be shaped like an upside down bowl so the top would be that much smaller, meaning it would spread out within covering more space, and he was right.
A luscious biome of green and life spread out until it met crystal withe sand that met the crystal sea with a soft hug. Normally, Rezar would worry about the tides, but everything was at an elevation, with its peak being almost a hundred meters above sea level. The peak met the back of what was obviously a bowl shaped cavern, leveling out into a flat plateau that had a tree with golden leaves solitary standing and surrounded by a field of beautiful flowers.
This place was beautiful, special, but above that it was extremely full of life. From the back of the cavern. Which is the cavern wall, all the way to the sea, was an estimated distance of 20 kilometers. 2 of which was just a sandy beach of extreme beauty. This was enough space for a city, whether it starts out as a settlement and levels up to a village, in the end all Rezar could see was a grand city by the sea and sheltered by earth. But all it was now, was potential and an untapped land, he had to make it into what his vision just saw.
"Let's get down, the sun just rose, we should be able to take care of some things before the day runs out." Rezar said as the ants went over the rim of the basin. Kin a way this could be considered a cove, but the top was blasted away, Rezar was able to see that the edges of the rim was very jagged, like something had shot up out of it in anger, and since this used to be a nesting ground for a Leviathan, it wasn't too hard to come to a conclusion about what blasted a hole this large.
As they went down, Rezar paid attention to a lot of things, the distance down the wall to the elevated plateau that was just about 300 meters in diameter, was about 90 feet. Enough space to leave someone a bloody stain on the field below. The walls of the cavern were dark, in fact they were black and Rezar had only see Obsidian ore shimmer with such a color. However, he had a new passive skill to his mining class, [Earth Sense].
The skill synchronized well enough with his god sight, and he could see specks of multicolored lights all over the cavern wall to show veins for ores and precious stones. And from what he could see, there was a shit ton of diamonds here, like so much he had to close his eyes and open them to revert them back to his normal sight. That was a lot of money looking at him, but he would have to get in contact with 'normal' people to sell them.
But one hurdle after the other, he wouldn't rush himself or worry about making money now. When that bridge comes, he would happily cross it, but for now, he just need a place to set roots. They finally got to the bottom, and Rezar jumped off the back of the ant. The ground beneath his feet was solid, but he could still feel the way the grass beneath his feet caressed his leather boots, how the scent of the sea rushed forwards and embraced him, it smelled so much like freedom, until.
"Who… who are you?" a tiny voice asked from in front of him, Rezar whipped his head so fast to look in the direction of the golden tree as his gaze fell on the 3-year-old girl that was hiding within its branches. One word could only come out of his mouth at that time.
"Dryad!"
But he was not the only one surprised, there was no other tree around, and that was a fundamental aspect as Dryads are only born within forests, or close to cities. Because for all intents and purposes they weren't monsters, but reincarnated humans! Or players who chose to play the race. But she was here, all alone, practically in the middle of nowhere.
The dryad race was unique in Elysium, those who download for the first time or chose to reincarnate assuming they have a choice into the race, do so for one reason and one reason only. The race remembers nothing of a past life, no impressions, no knowledge apart from being able to speak, not unless they were players. And seeing how young she was, it only stood to reason… she's been alone this entire time.
Rezar didn't care though, she was an unexpected bump in his path seeing as he already had plans to remove that tree, it was right in the middle of the plateau and he wanted to plant the town spire there. But think about how a town spire is supposed to be accessed by everyone, that might not be a good idea. But he found it hard to believe she had been alone by herself all this time, he moved forwards to ask more questions until…
"Watch out!!" he heard Gynaika yell behind him as she jumped forwards and pushed him out of the way as root surged forwards from the three and drilled into her stomach bursting out from her back.
And then the golden tree turned into a blood red tree with leaves, the dryad grew older and had a bunch of horns, and just as she attacked, about a dozen men and women jumped out of well-hidden spots Rezar had previously not noticed. Looks like someone else had come to stake his or her claim on this fertile and strategic piece of land. There would be no negotiating between both parties now, only death.