*Notes*

This is slightly short as well but I'll make up for it later.

Maybe I should just stick to writing more short chapters instead I have a hard time doing longer ones.

Let me know if you prefer shorter but more frequent or longer ones less often.

Chapter 7

The first thing we saw was what seemed like a forest of old, but the sheer magnitude made us stare in silence, taking in the world around us. There were birds flying in the air and trees reaching to the sky; grasses and a plethora of the glowing plants illuminated the world along with a dark blue glow coming from the walls around us. It was the most beautiful sight I could think possible. The forest seemed to go on without end.

All my previous doubts are now gone. This is a biome.

*Screeeeeeee!*

Suddenly we hear an ear piercing screech from above. It sounds like a B class eagle!

"Shit! Take cover!"

*Swooooosh* The eagle dives past our party and circles back.

Its claws nearly getting ahold of Rudy but he dodged enough to just get a cut along his scalp. A little more and his head might of been pierced and his body dragged off to the nest.

I activate the wind barrier I've had prepared because of the uneasy feeling earlier. It provided enough cover for us to take a minute to get our barrings.

"What do we do Randal?"

"We'll run into the treeline and take cover, I don't think my barrier will last long against it. After that, Rudy and I will attack from a distance. Rudy, you think you can kill it if I stop its movement for a second?"

"The feathers are hard bu—

Suddenly the eagle dives and stabs through my barrier, dispersing it effortlessly.

"GO!"

We take evasive maneuvers and make a mad dash towards the forest. I try to stall the eagle a bit with a flurry of wind blades but they just bounce off its feathers. At least they slowed its momentum slightly giving us more time. No one was injured from the second attack and we managed to make it to the trees. I can see the eagle still circling above us like its waiting for us to make a mistake. It doesn't seem stupid enough to charge into the forest so we'll have to draw it out.

"Carter you're the bait walk out into the clearing and before it gets you I'll stop its movements for a few seconds, in that time Rudy will use a piercing shot to end it. Agreed!?"

"Fine with me"

"Wait, why do I have to be the bait!? Why not—

"Just do it! Or are you saying you don't trust my ability to hold it?"

..."Of course, I wouldn't question your ability...

Hmph, Fine..."

Carter jumps out of the treeline and takes a defensive stance with his sword.

*Sccreeeeeee*

"Here it comes!"

"Shit why me!"

I cast my most powerful lock spell freezing the section of air above Carter. The eagle flew right into my trap and became suspended only a dozen or so feet from Carter's head.

It starts to squirm and try to break free. Depending on what's inside, I can hold the lock for different lengths of time. With the eagle, I can only hold it for at most 2 seconds but it's almost completely defenseless while inside. Hopefully, Rudy can take that perfect shot in time.

I promptly hear the twang of a bow and see the concentrated mana arrow flying at the eagles head like a laser beam. The eagle's head blew off so easily, it makes me laugh that we almost lost him to the bird in the first place. Well, at least Rudy got some retribution for almost losing his life. (Like a noob)

"The materials from this eagle will be enough for us to live luxuriously for a few months!" Carter nearly drools and starts taking apart the corpse and collecting bits and pieces.

Materials from higher class beasts are valuable because the stronger something is the more mana is concentrated in their bodies tempering them into treasures. Things like talons, beaks, feathers, can also hold mana like a container. If you process them and imbue them with arrays you can turn them into magic items.

"Rudy I need you to climb a tall tree to get a good view of the area. Try to estimate how large this place is and keep watch for other creatures."

I'm too mentally drained from the wind blades and especially after using lock, to fly right now. Rudy also has the best eyesight out of us all so he's the logical choice.

I watch as Rudy swiftly climbs up to the top of a nearby tree and starts looking all around. After about a minute he climbs down and gives me a report.

"If we went straight for around 12km we'd run into a small mountain. I couldn't see past the mountain much so I couldn't estimate how far the biome goes in that direction, but there is another mountain to our right against the wall of this space. There's about 10km to the walls on our left and right. I didn't see any more beasts while I was up there."

I nod my head at Rudy's excellent report.

"Ok let's head back to the cave tunnel. We're here for a few minutes and we already had a B class beast attack us. I don't want to stay here for much longer. I think we have enough info to go back to the city with. Our names will go down in history for discovering this."

Everyone nods their heads and we start packing up the materials from the eagle. Once back in the tunnel, I let lose the breath I wasn't aware I was holding. I start to lose some of the tension from earlier. The glowing plants filling the tunnel still amaze me but compared to the forest it's like comparing a firefly to the moon. (Like that reference? :P)

As we head out of the tunnel our eyes are bombarded from the bright sunlight. The serene scene of the grass blowing in the wind with the bright sunshine contrasts against the dark biome filled with the lush forest. We finally can let loose that last bit of tension and rest. We set up camp outside the cave and start to cook up the rabbits and some of the eagle meat.

"By the way Rudy, I have to say I like your new haircut, it really suits you."

"Maybe you should change professions, being live bait really suits you too."

"Hmph, I faced the beast head-on, that's nothin to be ashamed of. Better than some people who can only hide."

"If hiding works then why would I face them head-on, I killed the beast and stopped you from being turned into bird shit so I'd say it worked."

I can't help but sigh at these two. Why can't they be quiet like William over there? We just found the most important discovery since the founding of our city and they still bicker at each other.

"Once we're done eating let's pack up. We have to get to the city to report this as soon as possible."

The trip back to the city was uneventful. We traveled quickly and cut our rest times which let us make it back to the city on the fifth day.

|Richard's Pov|

"WHAT!" I jump out of my chair with my eyes fixed on Ranald and ask, "You said you found what again!? I don't think I heard you right the first time."

Randal can't hide the grin on his face when he says, "We found a biome."

Randal fills me in on all the details regarding the biome and the area surrounding it. It sounds magnificent, almost to the point of me not believing it. I need to talk to the guild master about this. Our city just hit the motherload. With this we can stabilize, with this we can expand, with this... I can't get too carried away yet. If another country finds out about this we could be exterminated before we really take root there.

I send Randal and his team on their way for a well-deserved rest. Of course, they will be promptly rewarded for their efforts and achievements if this all pans out. I grab the report and hurry to the guild masters office nearly running a maid over in the hall.

When I get to the office I don't even bother knocking and open the door.

"Richard!? Why are you so flustered, you look like you ran around the city and on the way found a million almas on the street."

"I—I've got Randal's report... Sir we... We've found what we have been looking for since this city was founded. We have finally found it..."

"Slow down Richard and just spit it out what did we find."

"A biome."

The guild master's eyes open wide and he just pauses while he slowly registers what I just said.

I start filling him in on everything Randal told me.

..."Richard, I want Samantha's team on this. Have them investigate the inside of the biome. Also, tell Patterson to get everything ready for a move. Once I get Samantha's report I want to act quick on this. We're moving."