The ship carried them east, and Beth and Sera relaxed for few moments before spending some time studying. The airship was fast, but nothing like the speed of a starship, and it took them hours to make it to the mountain range in question. Blood loved piloting the ship even on a 'normal' day of flying, and Beth was just happy that she enjoyed it so much. She and Sera, on the other hand, spent the whole time studying, only paying attention to what was happening when Blood informed them they were getting close.

The mountains stretched out before them, a bit older range, worn down at the peaks and with plenty of erosion on the shoulders and slopes. Even so, the mountains were rather high compared to an older range on Earth, the highest peak the equivalent of three miles above sea level. Blood steered them around the edge of the range, giving them a good view as they flew parallel to the range on its western edge. It wasn't just for the view, either, as the monster outbreak was to the north of the range, so they still had about an hour of flying to get there, even considering they were flying at about a thousand miles-per-hour.

Beth spent some time observing the mountain range, not the first she had seen, but still finding a majestic beauty in the snow-capped peaks and rugged forests. The place had a weight of age about it that was palpable even on the bridge through a screen, and Beth hoped they could spend a bit of time just exploring the slopes. It was places like this, in fact, that really sparked her desire to go out and explore, to see more and experience more. She found herself lost in daydreams for a time, watching the snowy peaks whizz by and the forest a green and brown and yellow blur across the slopes.

She was pulled out of said dreams, after a time, by Blood announcing that they were in range of where the outbreak was supposed to be happening. Beth didn't really need the announcement, however, as it was very clear that something bad was going on, with the area ahead of them, just a few miles north of where Blood had slowed them to little more than a crawl, coated in some kind of dark energy that twisted the landscape and warped the vegetation. It started as just little things, though still distinguishable to Beth's enhanced vision, but over time, as they flew high and slow overhead, it became much more pronounced. First, a few trees and plants were twisted, with a dark purple sheen to some leaves and fronds and a few lines of purple on the trunks. Then, there were larger disparities from what they had been seeing, including large sections of dark energy swirling about, dimming the surrounding light and making strange and fell shadows play tricks on the eye.

Blood flew them over all of this strangeness, the weird areas only increasing in size, Beth keeping a keen eye on everything. It didn't take long to notice the strange shapes in the trees, even shorter a time to notice the odd beings on the naked slopes that led up to the mountain peaks, moving at seeming random and leaving dark trails in their wake. Beth took control of the front screen, Blood able to fly perfectly well by instrument, and zoomed in on one of the strange creatures. What appeared in the magnified image was a bizarre, twisted being of too many arms and far, far too many eyes. It looked everywhere at once while also managing to look at nothing, loping along with a stilted gait at a brisk pace, though what it was seeking or hunting, Beth had no remote idea.

"They're everywhere," Blood commented, taking back control of the screen to show the targeting systems highlighting hundred of the creatures just in their immediate vicinity.

"Void monsters," Sera said definitely. "I know something of the void when I see it. We've found our outbreak, for sure."

"This is…a lot worse than we had been told," Beth said hesitantly, watching as more and more targets showed up on the scan as they continued flying north, Blood turning them a bit northeast to take them over the mountains.

"It's much worse than I assumed," Sera said, pulling up information on the mana distribution and density in the area. Several graphs appeared on the left side of the main screen, showing a far higher concentration of mana than the rest of the mountain range right alongside a very noticeable skew in the types and distribution of said mana.

"That doesn't look good," Beth replied, frowning and tapping her chin as she reviewed the graphs.

"Monster outbreaks are worse than we thought," Sera said, highlighting a portion showing loose void mana and another one showing estimates of monster numbers based on the data they had recorded so far.

"We've got live ones," Blood added, redirecting the screen at a mountain where a group of Wayfarers fought against the monsters. They watched for a minute before realizing the group was similar to theirs, at least in that the group was highly over-leveled for this area. It looked like they weren't the only strong team that had had the idea to come over here and farm monster drops while getting kudos for helping with a bad situation.

"They're very strong," Blood noted.

"The elf's an Enlightened," Sera said. "I can tell by how his mana reads on the scanner. He not only has a Mana Physique, his mana pool is very deep and robust."

"Yeah, I don't think they're gonna need any help," Beth said with a chuckle.

"Onward," Sera said to Blood, the wolf growling in assent.

They flew on past the group, the only indication they had even been noticed a sharp glance from one of the five, though that glance was more than just a look. The ship's systems registered enough of a mana usage from the person in that one flick of the eye to make it clear that they were doing more than just casually observing, but when Beth and company flew on, the group simply ignored them. Beth made a note of where that group was, knowing they could more than handle their own and not wanting to cross too close to an area they were currently working.

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Flying on over the mountains for twenty minutes at a rather slow pace, they saw one more group before they got to a location near where the outbreak was currently happening. There was a makeshift camp setup, though it had ten-foot-high walls that an earth mage had erected and three orderly rows of buildings in the center. Beth had intended to just fly close to the center of the outbreak and see how deep into the center they could get, even into the heart of it where the void mana was coming from, but she thought it better to check in with the base first. Blood landed the ship on the outside of the wall, the girls disembarking quickly but still coming under attack from a group of shambling monsters.

Two people made to leave the camp to help, but changed their minds when they watched Beth and Sera wipe the floor with the monsters in less than twenty seconds, killing them all in just a handful of attacks. Beth then packed the ship up and tossed it into her necklace before they walked into the little fort, getting stopped just inside for a brief check and scan by someone doing guard duty. They passed easily, their CRA Silver Emblems enough to act as ID anywhere they went and nothing negative showing up on the scans. They were directed to a large, blocky building at what Beth supposed was the back of the fort to speak to the commander, who turned out to be a strict elven woman with a thin scar on the right side of her face that went up into her hairline.

"Commander," Beth said respectfully once they were face-to-face.

"Here to farm, or to actually help?" she asked in a stern tone.

"We need items from their bodies, but we can help, depending on how powerful the source really is," Beth said.

The commander gave a very small sigh before replying, "If you just want to help keep it contained, then I'll assign you a quadrant to kill what you can. If you want to actually help resolve the situation, I can put you on the expedition team that intends to head deep underground. We have three Enlightened and six Empowered getting ready right now. They'll head down the day after tomorrow."

Beth looked over at Sera and Blood, getting only raised eyebrows in response. Shrugging, she turned back to the commander and said, "I don't see a problem with joining the expedition, but we're not gonna sit around for two days with nothing to do."

"I wouldn't expect it. I'll send you coords; head out there and clear as much as you can. Some of the teams are moving slowly even when they could go faster because they want this to draw out, but we want this done. Don't worry about wandering into other teams' territories; I'll handle any complaints," she said brusquely before sending Beth a data packet.

"Anything we should know?" Beth asked.

"You're Wayfarers; you know how to fight. Just watch your backs out there; this world is still rather wild and there's a lot we don't know," the commander said, dismissing them with a wave.

"Let's go," Beth said to the other two, leading the way out of the fort and out of the outer walls entirely. "Annoying that we packed the ship just to unpack it."

"But it means I get to fly again," Blood said with a grin.

"I'm glad you enjoy it so much," Beth said.

"Would be better if I could fly everywhere," Blood grumbled.

"We can work on that after we get this stuff done. We get our rebirths sorted, get a few levels, and then we have some free time. We'll take some time off and you can try to get your pilot license done in that time," Beth said as the ship unpacked.

"Sounds good," Sera said, giving Beth a knowing wink, which had her rolling her eyes.

"Fine," Blood nodded, eagerly making her way to the bridge to take the pilot's seat. It was just a short flight to the area the commander had given them to clear, but Blood loved every second of flying. She put them down manually without even a bump, landing so seamlessly that the other two didn't even notice they were back on the ground at first.

They spent the next day and a half farming monsters, clearing the entire area they were assigned, though it took them all that time and there were still a few monsters that had wandered back in as they were leaving. The nice thing, if she could call it that, was that they didn't have to deal with any other beasts in the area, as they were close enough to the outbreak that the monsters and unstable mana had taken care of that. It would likely take a few years, given nothing else crazy happened, for the area to get back to even a semblance of normal once the teams had fully cleared all the monsters.

They had gotten some of what Sera needed in that time, but they found they were still a bit short as they made their way back to the fort. Sera still needed ten of the items, and they were already signed on for the expedition, so they both might as well do that and also see if they could snag enough items down there. Beth made a note to ask the commander about how loot was going to be distributed before they started the trip down into the breach, which was a more than four hundred feet long rent in the earth about half a mile from the fort. They had flown over it both times they had come to the fort and the ship's sensors, while not going wild, pinged very heavy and spat out reams of data on how crazy the mana was down there. Hell, the mana just roiling out of that long, triangular gash was powerful and destructive, so they were in for some fun going underground.

When they landed, they were again attacked by a group of monsters, this one big enough that several people from the fort came out to make sure to clear it in a timely manner. The only reason the fort wasn't under constant assault was because they were too tough a nut to crack and monsters, unlike beasts, could learn some very rudimentary lessons even before they attained true sapience. They had a bit more animalistic intelligence than beasts, ironically enough, considering monsters were abominations of mana and evil, while beasts were essentially just normal animals on mana steroids.

The first thing Beth did was check in with the commander. The serious elf gave her a small, grim smile, explaining the rules thusly, "You each have a certain quota based on your rebirths, how much you clear, and what you find. I'll send a sheet that details it, but it's the standard one used for expeditions between teams or organizations. Any dispute will be settled by either myself or, if I am somehow not satisfactory, then it will be settled by the CRA, but I assume you would much rather it not come to that."

"Yes, exactly," Beth said with a quick nod of her head. "It says in the sheet that someone that finds a unique item or natural treasure has higher weight, up to twenty percent. What happens if somebody finds something and they can't use it but somebody else can?"

"It's money," the commander said with a shrug. "I don't care if you buy or sell things that were found, but it all waits until after the expedition is over excepting if the person needs the item immediately and the rest of the group agrees to sell or trade their stake to that person. Best just to wait until you're back in the fort."

"Any more details on what we can expect down there, commander?" Beth asked.

"Void-based object or array; likely to be an array, based on our scans. If that proves true, minimum requirement for the expedition is that you turn the damned thing off. Failing that, break it if you can and if you can't, take detailed pictures, videos, readings, scans, and so on. You know the deal by now, especially having already reached Silver at the CRA," the commander answered.

"Any high-rebirth monsters down there?" Beth asked.

"Nothing above five to our knowledge, but we don't have a perfect picture of the inside of the outbreak," the commander replied. "The numbers down there are going to be more a concern than the levels."

"Numbers are our specialty, commander," Beth said, getting a quirked eyebrow and very small smirk out of the woman.

"Anything else?" the commander asked in a tone that said there better not be.

"No, ma'am, we're ready whenever the rest of the team is," Beth replied.

"The team should be ready in just under two hours. Stay in the fort and we'll let you know with a few minutes extra," the commander said, clearly dismissing her as she turned back to some other work.

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