Even though Jason was unsure if the valley and the surrounding mountain ring were only a small dimension, something similar like that or if there was something behind the mountain ring, he couldn't help but be amazed by what he saw.
The mana density he saw while looking down from the plateau was thick and looked like it was stored within the valley.
From the high mana-concentrated valley center area towards the outskirts, it was easy for Jason to perceive that even the outskirts had a mana density comparable to normal four-star wild zones.
Within the center, Jason saw magnificent yet obsolescent building complexes which were labeled as Ancient ruins.
As such it was most likely the place with most treasures, as long as the ruins were not completely looted.
Even a single advanced mana device might help humanity to develop their technology further and was as such extremely valuable.
However, the only issue Jason and the other members had to face would be quite difficult to overcome.
Not only would the competition with all other humans be high, with some young men and women at the peak Master rank infinitely close to compressing their first drop of liquefied mana, but even more problematic would be the magical-ranked beasts.
If his prediction was not wrong, the whole central area had to be the habitat of hundreds if not several thousand magical ranked beasts, which, which was even rare to have on Astrix.
Jason couldn´t be sure of this fact, but due to the mana density he barely saw in the central area that was dozens of kilometers away from him, told him so.
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "64ce79d606107d003c23ea27", id: "pf-5140-1"})In the end, his mana eyes could only barely perceive the mana fluctuation so far away because of his elevated position with nothing with mana fluctuations obstructing his sight, as it would blur everything behind.
As such it was possible and the only problem he told himself was that he had to convince his teammates to disregard the existence of the ancient ruins for the time being.
It would be useless for them to sacrifice their time and most likely even their life in order to obtain nothing due to the high competition.
Their plateau was protected by many soldiers at the peak of the Master rank while they installed many traps and a long-range mana fluctuation radar in order to prevent any kinds of incidents.
Artemis could fly around because she was not detected by the long-range mana fluctuation radar due to her being a soulbond, but some ambitious hunter might see her as a rare beast and try to shoot her down, which Jason wanted to prevent.
Forced to stay squeezed on Jason´s shoulder, Artemis wasn't sure if she should feel happy or not, because she wanted to fly around freely as the mana fluctuations she sensed and absorbed caused her to be more energetic.
A full hour passed and Jason was still seizing up the whole valley, trying to figure out a good location for them to venture first, as he noticed that someone approached him from behind.
Turning around, he saw Malia and the rest of the expedition team, who were still pale, looking at him with curiosity and astonishment.
"What is your trick be so sturdy at your mana core rank? How long have you been unconscious?" Theo asked, astonished about Jason´s well-being.
When they woke up, all of them thought that Jason was still in the infirmary because of a possible injury, because their own head felt as if it would explode any moment.
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "64cc9e79c7059f003e4ad4b0", id: "pf-5109-1"})But when they arrived at the infirmary, they couldn't see him, which caused Malia to panic for a moment, when one of the protectors remembered Jason because of his golden eyes and low mana core rank.
Seeing that Jason was fine, looking down into the valley as if nothing happened, Malia was relieved, while the others weren't sure if they should be glad or jealous.
Lux didn't really care about Jason´s well-being and was considered the strongest out of their team, which was the cause for him to feel the lightest headache, but even if that was the case, seeing that Jason, who was two whole stages below him, completely fine was not something he should underestimate.
Noting that Jason was an extraordinary, yet interesting irregular, Lux decided to observe Jason for the time being.
"I don´t know when I woke up, but it has probably been...like an hour or so? Have you guys seen the ancient ruins?" Jason answered honestly but he wasn't aware that everyone except him already knew about the ancient ruins.
As such he was disappointed with their reaction when Malia said.
"We already knew about the ancient ruins from before... But I don't really think we should waste our time venturing into the center!"
Hearing this, Jason nodded his head in approval, when he noticed Jennifer and Lin shaking their head.
"If we find an unknown mana device, we can earn tens of thousand star-notes, as long as its working to a certain extent!! With a high technology mana device, it might even be hundreds of thousand-star notes! Shouldn't we at least give the ancient ruins a try??" Lin said with excitement in his eyes, which caused Jason to feel slightly astonished.
'I expected Jennifer to be impatient, naive, and maybe greedy, but Lin is the same?!' This was unexpected but Jennifer agreed to what Lin said, causing their group to end up in a controversial opinion.
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "663633fa8ebf7442f0652b33", id: "pf-8817-1"})While he and Malia wanted to be safe, Lin and Jennifer seemed to like taking a risky, almost suicidal path, as long as they obtain a vast fortune.
Lux and Theo remained silent, but Jason got the feeling that Theo was more on their side because he seemed to be a rather careful guy.
However, Lux was labeled as irregular in Jason´s opinion, and even looking at him felt still somewhat uncomfortable, even though he tried to tell himself that the black-eyed youth received his soulbonds from a death domain.
In the end, Lux felt unapproachable and distant, as if he didn't care about any worldly matter, which was completely different from Jason´s way of thinking.
He didn't say anything at all and only when Theo stated his opinion, Lux decided to adjust himself, agreeing.
"It's too dangerous to venture into the central area of the valley where the ancient ruins are situated. There are most likely many magical ranked beasts and the competition amongst the others who also came with us through the four-star rift is too large.
Furthermore, it's not even assured that we can find something there! Let´s descend and look out for treasures on the outskirts. We have a task to accomplish if you guys didn't forget that already!"
Before they ventured into the four-star rift, Jason figured out that Malia and her expedition team had to collect a sum of a few billion credits in order to accomplish their mission.
In the end, the task allowed only beast corpses and magical treasures, ores, herbs, and so on while prohibiting any lifestyle occupation to help out by forging, concocting, or inscribing runes.
As such, they had to hunt treasures and beasts for the next few weeks.
The other nodded, while Jason suddenly remembered an important piece of information they had to acquire.
Clearing his throat he asked his team, that was about to descend the highland plateau.
"How many days will the rift even remain open and how long should we remain here?"
