Dark, repulsive, and gloomy were the first thoughts that came to Thirio's mind while looking at the forest that spread into the vast distance before him. Sensing the energy floating about in the air, a fierce wave of disgust bubbled up from the pit of his stomach causing him to look away from the forest and back to the other members of the expedition team.
Thirio turned his attention back to the spiraling tower built just a distance from the teleportation station. The tower stood before the forest like a guardian protecting those that stood outside from the seething darkness that wafts from it.
Large doors made of a dark blue metal stood at either side of the entrance leading into a pristine hall packed with shuffling people of all kinds, clear gems embedded in the wall, while others floated above their heads lighting up the area.
"Don't wander around, I'll be back after settling a few remaining matters for us to be sent off," the gruff voice of the Orc in the lead sounded before he walked off to the front desk; being led away a few seconds later.
Thirio took the time to get a better grasp of the expedition members. Discreetly glancing around, taking in all the exposed features from the members not covered in robes, elves, beastmen, goblins, and orcs.
'It's my first time seeing some of them outside of books….'
"Are you the team with Mr. Gashna," breaking the silence, and Thirio's observation was the rough voice of a soldier coming from his left, he gazed at the group with indifference filled eyes.
"Follow me," a short command left his lips once all eyes were on him; turning and walking off without a glance back to ensure he was being followed, the soldier barely noticed the eyes of displeasure that zeroed in on his back or if he did, he showed no reaction as such.
Thirio followed after the man who soon led them into a lobby where the muscular forest green Orc Gashna stood before a large door with seemingly flowing water trapped within that shone a blue-green.
"I've finished with the last of the remaining procedures so let's be on our way," taking the lead, Gashna was the first to pass through the door that gave a slight ripple as he did, the others soon followed after reigning in their displeasure with the guide.
_____
'It felt like passing through water but with none of the resistance,' laying his foot on solid ground, Thirio quickly froze in shock.
A dark forest, dead trees, chilling winds, and horroring howls, were the things that Thirio was expecting from the other side but what stood before him left him stunned and once again amazed with the world.
Warm sunlight brushed his skin, the scent of nature filled the air, multi-colored trees, grass, and flowers dotted the landscape while, the energy in the air while more concentrated was gentle like a spring breeze.
'How the fuck is this that dark, gloomy forest from before,' Thirio mentally screamed in shock at the scene around him before looking at those present to see he wasn't the only shocked face.
'Good, I'm not the only shocked face among the crowd;' sensing the energy around him more, Thirio contemplated before a vortex discretely appeared in his palm pulling the energy from the air within itself.
"Seeing so many shocked faces means a lot of you didn't get the time to fully research this place. So my first advice is not to absorb the energy in the air," his voice aloof and his eye's impassive, Gashna looked around the forest searchingly.
"This place is called the Resting Forest for a reason, the energy within the air has trace elements of illusion energy that is hard to detect until it has built up enough in your body to lead to death," seeming to have found what he was looking for, Gashna took grasp of a small purple flower with two leaves shaped like wings from beside the roots of a tree.
"These flowers will be your best friend here, they are Purple Mundets, the energy within them is clean while being able to slightly purge the illusion energy that accumulates in the body from exposure to the air from within this place. Scatter and gather them for your personal use, we move out in 30 minutes."
Looking at the Orc taking a seat after dismissing them, Thirio gave a nod of appreciation in his direction before leaving to gather his own set of flowers.
Checking the energy within the vortex, Thirio saw the blue orb rotating around it while pulling out a purple energy into itself from within, leaving behind pure origin energy.
'Seems I've found one use of the blue orb but, I'll need more testing to confirm the extent of this ability; anyway, now that I'm able to use the energy in the air, this place has become a bit safer,' he thought, spurring the vortex and orb to work faster.
30 minutes flew past in the blink of an eye, but the harvest must have gone well based on everyone's satisfied faces.
"We'll pay no attention to any beast below the third rank, while any of those that appear can be handled by one of you so I can get an idea of the strength you wield."
____
Thirio watched the trees flicker by as they dashed through the forest, stopping and taking detours when necessary. A flare of Gashna's aura every now and then was enough to scare most of the beast they encountered into retreat.
"Halt, there's a 3rd Rank Beast ahead, does anyone want to combat it? I'll allow each of you a chance to fight along the way so I can gauge your strength," Gashna's voice pulled everyone to a stop, pointing into the distance at a black-furred, three feet ape.
A gust of wind bursted from within the group as a slender man with long green hair, pointed ears, and a combat suit consisting of a skin-tight, emerald green shirt and pants that seemed to be made from leaves but shone with a metallic luster stood before the ape.
"He's from the elven race and judging by his precise control of wind origin energy just now he should be at the peak foundation stage; let's see what he got," listening to Gashna the crowd paid more attention to the fight about to take place before them.
Stepping forward a burst of wind coiled around the elf's body as he shimmered out of sight only to appear before the ape swinging a bastard sword made of wind. Blood and guts splashed as the beast was cleaved in half from top to bottom before having any chance to react.
"Not bad, his foundation is quite stable and he's already started to learn a cultivation technique along with battle skills. Let's keep moving, I hope the rest of you are just as strong," seeing the young elf rejoining them Gashna set off once more.
'A cultivation technique increase's one's power by this much,' clenching his fist as a desire to grow stronger burst from within his heart, Thirio thought back on the battle he just witnessed with awe and anticipation.
_____
Thirio took in all the people around him with new interest, moving through the forest for the last couple of hours was a new and exciting experience for him, all the origin-rich flowers and fruits that sat in his storage was surely a big contributor but his greatest gain was watching the others do battle.
Having watched 22 people fight had given him new ways to use his energy and shown him the importance of battle skills and minute energy movements in a fight.
'Gashna should be above the foundation realm but aside from him there are 4 others that I have to watch out for, even with my current strength,' feeling a jolt within; Thirio looked to see the orange orb pulling an emerald green energy from the blue orb forming a cycle between all three.
'Seems this trip was worth making just from the increased understanding of my Trinity.'
"Let's take a break in the upcoming clearing, you can use the mundet's to recover your lost energy."
Feeling a Will washing over him as they landed in the clearing Thirio compared the strength to his, 'mine's about 5 times weaker but the quality of his seems different.'
"We'll reach the harvesting area in another hour by keeping the same pace as before. We'll split into teams with the highest rate of survival or if you're confident in your strength you can go alone. Once you've found a third rank space flower, retrieve it and use the device to confirm the mission as done to notify the others.
We have 4 hours to search the area after which we pull back to the entrance, if you aren't back by then, you'll be written off as dead," Gashna took a purple mundet of his own to replenish himself after finding a spot to rest.
Leaning on the cool blue bark of a tree, Thirio slowly pulled the pure origin energy from the vortex, changing it to astral-dragon energy after pouring it into his first sphere.
Hearing footsteps approaching Thirio looked to his left, taking note of the young man a few steps away from him.
"Name's Rian, got a proposal if you're interested."
No words were spoken from his mouth but Thirio heard his voice loud and clear.
'He has impressive control over the energy within his body,' interest budding in his mind.
"Do tell," Thirio said replying in kind; finally facing each other glowing silver eyes met gold.
___
Rian, having landed on Agrios from some information he bought in search of a rare item. He didn't have much hope for success but the planet itself brought him a pleasant surprise.
'It's going through a world evolution; this makes the chances of the information being correct more concrete.'
With the information being more reliable, Rian began searching for the object he desired while being as discreet as possible to prevent interference and other competitors.
Months soon passed with no sight of his target as the planet was too big for him alone to explore, not to mention that it was growing.
"Haven't been to this one yet, might as well give it a try; plus even if I can't find it the profit should be just as good as the others," staring at the expedition mission on his device Rian went to work making his preparations.
The days passed with little interest to Rian as he dug up and bought information about the expedition site.
Fully dressed and equipped, Rian walked into the waiting room taking a glance at all present.
'The Orc should be a low-level warrior, mid-level at best which means I have to stay sharp with him; three peak foundation individuals but they aren't much of a threat.'
Satisfied with his assessment of the team, Rian moved to a corner where he closed his eyes waiting in silence.
Hearing movement at the door, he took a glance, eyes zoning in with interest as his thoughts raced.
'Well now. I can't gauge his power, interesting, maybe he's another one for me to look out for,' eyes closing once again.
"....Collect a rank 3 space flower…."
Eyes ablaze, Rian looked at the Orc who had just explained their objective.
'Found it.'
___
'As I thought the three peak stages are strong but not a threat as for Silver over there, though he hasn't fought his movements and reaction have shown some difference after each fight which says alot about his potential and comprehension.'
Resting on a tree, Rian tapped his chest causing a virtual screen to pop into being.
After a few screens shifted on his mental commands a new one appeared taking the place of all the others.
-Ask The Oracle-
-Ask your question and a price will be generated based on its specification, but not all questions will be answered-
Having used it a few times he already knew some of the rules governing the questions.
-What's the strongest beast within 500m of my position.-
-Answer cost 15,000 1st rank origin crystals-
-Transaction was successful-
-Answer: Peak Rank 4 beasts-
-How far away am I from a 3rd Rank space flower-
-25,000 O.E.-
-Answer: 400m-
-How many 4th Rank beast are within 400m of my position-
-15,000 O.E.-
-Answer: 5-
-You have made use of all available question-
Watching the screen vanish, Rian's thoughts soon whirled into action with the new knowledge that was presented, narrowing down the possible areas the objective could be in.
'Based on the intel I now have, the space flower is likely to be guarded by 2-3 4th rank beasts which might even include one or more peak stage beasts.
I won't be able to take them down all on my own; though my options for help are only Silver hair or the Orc.'
Weighing the pros and cons that each partner would come with, it didn't take more than a few minutes to settle on one.
Staring at his target that was still quite a mystery 'let's see how he fairs.'
"Name's Rian, got a proposal if you're interested."
"Do Tell."
Rian's eyes glowed golden as he locked with a silver pair.
"Seem's you're the right choice after all; would you like to make that 3rd rank space flower ours, 50\50 split of the energy within."
"Tell me more."
Seeing that it didn't take even a minute of thought for the other party to agree, a wide smile spread across Rian's face.
"Here's what I need from you....."