After some more discussion of the plans, everyone decided to move toward the exit. They needed to tell everyone what they had found, and move the camp closer to the gorge. They would probably get as much as they could carry by hand and in their bags first. That would be enough to organize a larger mining operation in the future.
Most likely, once back in the Border Beast City, they would need to spend a few weeks preparing.
- You go ahead, I'll stay here and poke around a bit more. I'll think about the best way to mine these crystals, they're pretty strong after all. - Kai said calmly.
- Okay, don't be bored, we'll be back soon. - Said Fabian.
The fact that Kai wanted to stay here was not suspicious. They had already checked the whole cave and found nothing dangerous or strange. It was unlikely that Kai could have any selfish ideas in this cave.
Now he watched the group slowly disappear into the darkness of the tunnel.
"They seem to have gotten far enough away... What the fuck was that?!" - Kai shouted in his head.
He quickly turned around and ran towards the cliff to climb it. The last time he had seen it there, he had seen something absolutely incredible.
After a minute, he was already standing in that spot again, and started looking into the Essence.
"My God, what is it?!" - He was completely shocked.
"If even Mr. Fabian didn't notice it, so what order of strength is this damn thing?" - Kai wondered.
"I was wondering why this place is sucking in such an incredible amount of energy... Far more than any other place. It seems that was the reason... And the crystals were born here, not from a natural anomaly. It was simply because the energy had been absorbed here for too long. And over time, it began to crystallize from the excess!" - Staring dumbfounded, Kai reasoned.
When he looked at the field of crystals below with his ability to see the energy and its essence, he was dumbfounded!
As he now saw an incredibly large circle dotted with countless geometric shapes and writings!
"Yes, this is an Energy Array! Moreover, Array Master Fabian, couldn't even detect it! Who created this enormous thing?!" - Thinking frantically, Kai thought to himself.
"It seems that this array has different functions in it. And one of them, absorbing energy from outside, to power itself! How many years, it has been standing here idle, that it has managed to accumulate so much energy to generate this field of crystals!" - More and more questions appeared in Kai's mind.
Suddenly he remembered Fabian's story, about an ancient civilization that could potentially exist for tens of thousands of years. And in this very place!
"Damn! If this is their handiwork, then indeed, in that amount of years, this field of crystals could have accumulated. But then what kind of power did they have!" - Exclaimed Kai in his head.
Actually, the birth of energy stones and other valuable metals and materials was not a quick matter. They were usually mined from the bowels of the earth, or in forbidden lands with high energy density. Some of them could take even longer to form underground.
- Should I have told Fabian about this? - Kai said to himself.
Right now he doubted whether he should tell anyone at all. Because it posed two potential problems. And they were very weighty.
First, what was this array and what was it for? Sometimes there are things that are better left untouched and left in oblivion... It could be a seal that restrains something at all, or some kind of weapon that will sizzle them with its effects... All in all, it's a very dangerous variable that is unclear where it could lead to.
Secondly, how did he discover this? Explaining things with good instincts is a good thing. But to explain with that, the fact that he found a gigantic ancient array that an Array Master with experience, and decades of experience, couldn't detect... That was something else entirely...''
"Wow... What am I supposed to do? There are too many unknowns... It's best not to do anything at all for now. We'll be back here more than once anyway. When I return to the Border Beast City, I must make sure to go to the Array Masters Association. I can find out more there. I might even be able to figure out what this array is for...." - Kai decided he would do just that.
While he was thinking about all of this, a scream was heard:
- Wowooooo! Master, wow! - It was Keshi shouting, and her voice echoed throughout the cave.
Behind her now stood Alisud and Verik, in complete shock, they had never seen such a thing in their lives. And behind them stood a laughing Gontas. He had been walking for the last half hour with anticipation of those facial expressions.
- How about it, I told you you'd be speechless! And you didn't believe me. Hahah! - Gontas continued to laugh.
Kai quickly came down to them and they began to discuss their next course of action.
Slowly, they agreed that upon returning to the Border Beast City, they should form their own Alliance of ten people. Ten, since Kai had introduced Diso to them in detail as a very good merchant.
A merchant in Border Beast City was indispensable, and with his trading post, he was invaluable! Thus, no one objected, and everyone trusted Kai's words and judgment. During this journey, he had already proved his effectiveness many times.
They also decided that they would quietly formalize another assignment for the expedition. But a larger one, where they would go with the same group, but with wagons and tools. At this rate, in a few months, they will be able to get a very large amount of money for development. And when they recruited new reliable members of their alliance, they would be able to extract everything to the end. Although it was a long-term plan, it was a very good and reliable plan!
- Well guys, let's get the maximum amount we can carry and head back to the Border Beast City. - Said Fabian.
The next few days were spent moving the camp to the gorge and setting up the mining process. The crystals themselves were not very difficult to break off. It just took a fair amount of force.
But getting them to the exit of the cave and up to the top was a bit tricky. They didn't have wagons, tools, enough ropes and so on. Therefore, it took a lot of time.
On the fifth day, there were already many bags full of crystals in the camp. Even this amount would be enough for a very long time. But as a percentage of all the stones in the cave, they were crumbs.
Today they would finally move out to the city. The final preparations were literally underway.
- Well, I think that's enough. Mh, mh. - Breathing heavily, Roga said.
- Let's pack up and bring it to the surface.
All the men were in the cave now, except Fabian, he was upstairs taking notes and keeping an eye on the camp, along with Solina, Hika and Keshi.
Kai was loading the stones onto the leather canvas, as they had nothing to carry. They threw them on the cloths and tied the four corners together, making a makeshift bag. As Kai was rearranging the stones, he carelessly picked up a thin and sharp shard.
- Shit!" shouted Kai lightly.
He looked at his hand and saw blood oozing out of it. All the other members of the group had already stood up, slung their bags over their shoulders, and started walking towards the exit.
- Wait for me! - Shouted Kai, and ran squatting to roll up his bag. At that moment, one of the rocks under his foot cracked. He swayed slightly, placing his palm on the ground to keep his balance.
"Duuum! Duuum! Duuuum!" - At the same second, three short rumbles rang out. They even made one's ears pop.
At this moment, Kai became extremely wary, feeling a strange pull on his body. When he looked down using the essence energy vision, he saw the array light up slightly.
- Bitch! You guys run! Get out of here! - Kai shouted loudly. His voice sounded like the roar of a wild beast. He was incredibly serious now.