The Clerics returned a minute later with concerned looks.
"The end of the tunnel is gone. Everything past the first chamber looks like solid rock, the whole tunnel is hidden. We marked it as the entrance of a Holy Relic, but I'm not sure that anyone will believe us if they can't see the crystals." The male cleric informed Karl.
"That's fine. When it opens again, there will be no doubt that it leads to the Holy Relic. Perhaps it's better this way. Anyone else who stumbles across it will be trying to get a portal to open on the wall, while only those who should know will understand that the tunnel will appear when it is ready." Karl replied.
The students started to repack their gear into the best approximation of its original state, helping those who just weren't getting it, until they were all ready to move again.
Having been in the same spot for a few days gave them some backpack space again, thanks to the rations that were used up. That would give them a bit more space for more resources to bring back, but they had already gained far more than they expected, even just measuring by the actual plants that the team had harvested.
Normally, you would only find a few flowers, or a small patch of moss, not entire trees and fields worth of them.
That led to many arguments in the student groups if they hadn't worked out a proper rotation for who got the resources, instead of having enough for everyone to split what was available.
"The next one is straight east of here by ten kilometres. I will send Hawk up to scout, but be prepared for a long walk." Karl warned the group as they set off.
Through the woods, ten kilometres was going to take them half the day, but there was always the chance that Hawk would find something along the way.
"Do you think that the abundance of resources we found was because the Holy Relic was about to open? I mean, it should give off lots of power, right? So it might be the reason that there are so many resources in this area." Dana suggested.
"So, you're saying to forget the map and look around the cave for more good stuff? Everyone, what do you think of that? Do you mind staying in the area for a day or two, in case there are more plants for us to find?" Karl asked.
They were the leaders, but the other eight were the ones who had actually planned the mission. The resources were mostly for them, and had been expected to be a level below what Karl and Dana would need.
Most team leaders would add a mission point of their own to the trip if possible, if not, they would do it just for the Academy Credits and the time away from the regular training schedule.
That was the important part to a lot of them. Getting to go out and explore on their own was much more relaxing than being in class, and the missions picked by the first year students were rarely dangerous.
Even the Ascended Rank beetle which had been mauled by their team was an outlier. The mission report hadn't expected anything that dangerous in the area.
[Hawk, circle the area. Any magical plants or other interesting things you see, let me know and we will go explore it. Even if it doesn't seem too useful, it's still a resource.]
Hawk turned to circle around the cave in increasingly large circles for the next ten minutes until he found something of interest.
[There are shiny rocks over here. The mages like shiny rocks.] Hawk offered, as if he wasn't quite sure what to look for if it wasn't food or a resource he had seen a picture of.
[That is good. I have shown you all the resources on the list, and if there are any that you have seen on the balcony, or in the botany books, you can tell me about those too.] Karl suggested.
He focused on Hawk's location for a moment, and then turned to face it.
"Hawk has found a possible magical crystal source. We will go there and see what it is." He informed the others.
Dana smirked at the other mages. Ten minutes outside the cave, and they were already on their way to even more resources.
It was a short walk, with everyone keeping their eyes open for more hidden magical plants and any signs of threats that might have come looking for them.
After the incident with the beetle, and then the Holy Relic, they had realized that they wouldn't be the only ones drawn to the magical resources in the area. Monsters would be as well, and that meant they would have to compete for what they could get.
As they walked, Rae darted out and grabbed a small vine from up in a tree to bring back into her beast space.
Karl wondered just what the limitations were on that. Vines, meat, branches, leaves. Those could all be brought in, but he couldn't put his backpack or textbooks in there. Clearly, it wasn't that they were a physical item that was the issue, so it must be that they weren't a resource for the pets.
As they approached the point that Hawk had marked, the Clerics started to get a strange look on their faces, and the mages were getting really excited, while the Warriors wondered why. Then they stepped over a small ridge and saw the situation.
There was a large pond with small glowing yellow stones at the bottom. Even the warriors could feel the magic now that they were this close, and the cleric girl looked like she was going to faint.
Her legs gave out after one more step, and Karl caught her in his arms.
Her partner pointed at the pond with a shaky hand.
"Those are Holy Mana Stones." He mumbled.
Dana looked at him, then did a double take at the pond. There had to be a hundred of the stones in the lake, and each of them was an Awakened Rank resource. They were to mages what the Strength Stones were to the warriors, only infinitely more rare.
They wouldn't be crushed to dust and ingested, as they were impossible to replace without an especially powerful High Priest, instead they would be kept in a locket or other safe place and the user would draw on their power as they meditated.
Even just having one was a huge status symbol among the clerics, to the point that priests would wear them outside their robes when visiting important people or hosting nobility, just to prove their favoured status.
They also apparently couldn't be stolen. They decided who was able to use them, and you couldn't touch them if they judged you as unworthy.
"Everyone, if those are Holy Stones, they won't approve of a greedy heart. Put aside any thoughts of taking them all, and pick one that you like. Go for that one in particular, and if it lets you pick it up, put it somewhere safe." Karl informed them a moment before they were set to run toward the pond.
The cleric nodded fervently. "You must not entertain greed or violence in your heart, or they will reject you."
Karl jerked to the side, startled when Dana poked him on the arm.
"You can set the priestess down, she's awake again."