The gang worked through the day and into the next morning. Heather and Zachary together cleared a circular perimeter around the cave entrance. Heather utilized her mantis, named Toby, and gray wolf, named Max, to cut through the thick underbrush. A trio of treants; Zachary’s Elmont, Heather’s Roger, and Shuhua’s adept rank Magnolia, worked hand in hand to sweep away the debris created. Then came Doro who used earth surfing to reshape the ground until it was flat.
Zachary then worked on a canal for Dream. He had Onkie dig a small trench from an upper part of the stream to the cave entrance. Heather had assured him that the scorpion dragon wouldn’t awaken unless something entered its lair. However, he didn’t want to use Onkie as a test subject to her claim so he only dug to about ten meters from the cave before veering back toward the stream.
With water flowing through the canal and preparations finished, the gang rested briefly and began the operation in the early afternoon. Zachary decided to start on the southern side of the cave since Dream’s position was on the northern side. This provided the greatest chance of distracting the beast and getting away should something happen. Dream shouldn’t be in too much danger due to its speed. Also, Blue was instructed to wait at the end of the canal to pick Dream up and fly to safety.
“Are you ready?” Heather asked.
Zachary, who was still running through various possibilities in his head, looked up at her and sighed. He ran a hand nervously through his hair. There was nothing else to do except give it a try.
“Yeah.” He said.
Heather lifted her hand. A small green and yellow colored parrot flew off its perch above their head. It headed toward Carlos and Shuhua who were guarding the two escape paths. Now, they were truly ready.
“Doro.”
“Rahh…” Doro’s head emerged from the ground like a lump of dirt.
“Remember what you have to do. Head for the closest source of energy. Move as quietly as you can. Once you can grab it, there is no need to rush to get back to me. Pay attention to your surroundings. If you sense danger, drop the quintessence and flee.”
“Understood, Big Brother Zach.”
Doro sank into the ground and headed off. Zachary could sense his progress through their soul bond. So far, so good.
He crouched down to await Doro’s return, silently, nervously. His senses were on full alert, eyes darting left and right, ears perked for the slightest sound. He also activated his special soul sense, burning large amounts of soul energy in the process, to make sure he could have the earliest warning if the scorpion dragon awoke.
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Doro continued steadily, reaching halfway to the cave entrance without issue. The quitessences were sure to be spread out. Some would be deeper than others. Hopefully, there was one located close to the surface.
“Kaw! Kaw!”
A flock of giant seagulls flew overhead. Zachary jumped and cursed under his breath. He quickly refocused, sending a reassuring thought to Doro.
Things calmed down again after that. Small insects buzzed around his head but he didn’t bother to swat them away. Strange cries would occasionally echo from the distance. A gust of wind caused the trees to sway and creak and the leaves to rustle in a cryptic melody. This was the New World, where wild Ensouled ruled. He was still a tiny, insignificant existence, struggling to survive. Anything could happen. It was difficult but the only thing he could do was to expect the unexpected.
“Rah!” Roro grunted as he reemerged.
“Eh? Back already?” Zachary asked.
He didn’t expect it would go so smoothly.
“Yes, back.”
“Did you get it?” Zachary asked.
“Yes.”
Doro rose out of the ground a little higher and pushed a reddish-brown lump out of its chest. It was a rock, roughly rectangular, and with fine layers of black, red, gray, and other earthly tones. It wasn't big, about the size of his head but it already contained countless layers compressed into solid rock.
“Earth quintessence.” Zachary breathed out, his eyes shining with excitement.
This was the real deal. He could feel it, the tremendous amount of energy held inside this rock. It was vast and mighty like the earth. It wasn’t a sparkly gem like anima crystals but it still gave him a sense of wonder and euphoria.
“He got it?” Heather asked in surprise, “That looks pretty cool. I’ve never seen an earth quintessence like that before.”
“I haven’t seen one in real life, but I have seen one like this in textbooks,” Zachary said, “They come in many different shapes and sizes. They aren’t as uniform as anima crystals since they are naturally occurring. It depends on the specific environment of the quintessence spring.”
Quintessences were one of the most mysterious things in existence. It was deeply intwined with the worldly energy of Eternum as well as natural laws. A place rich in Eternum all around might not ever form quintessence springs but there might be one in the middle of nowhere. Many devoted their life to studying this phenomenon. Such knowledge was beyond that of a university student.
“How much do you think this piece is worth?” Heather asked.
“Not sure. The amount of Eternum contained inside can also vary. We’ll only know once we use it to cultivate.” Zachary pointed to the rock and asked Doro, “Is this the smallest piece or just the closest one.”
“Closest.”
“Are the other pieces close to this one?”
“Yes.”
Zachary glanced at Heather, “Shall we continue?”
“Yeah.”
Zachary sent Doro out once again. Like a silent hunter, his earth elemental swam through the ground and retrieved two more chunks of earth quintessence. These were smaller than the first one but not by much. After this, Zachary decided to switch positions as Doro said it would have to dig deeper to get another piece.
The afternoon passed just like this, everyone waiting nervously while Doro did all the hard work. On the eastern side, they were able to easily obtain two pieces. On the northern side, it was again three pieces. And finally, to close out the day, they obtained a single large piece from the eastern side.