The first obvious thing was they were all standing in mud. There were paths wide enough for vehicles in front of them and the teachers were forming lines in front of each path. The plants were beautiful to Lana.
The colors were amazing. She had never seen anything like it before and was excited to see more. The dozens of shades of green melded so incredibly with the other colors of the rainbow. She saw trees, shrubs, vines, flowers of all kinds. It reminded her of a rain forest. She felt like she was home and wanted to stay here and study the plants.
The shelter off to the side looked like it had never been finished since there was no wall. It looked like a mudbrick apartment building three stories tall with mechs on top. There were houses and shops as high up as the trees. There was no access to the building with the exception of some stairs that lead to the rooftop. Nis explained this shelter was a Level-5 which was the worst level. They were common on dangerous planets and those no fully explored. Once a planet was deemed safe and the level number finalized, the shelter would modernize based on the local dangers.
Because the shelter was below the level-3, there were no taxes or fees for living there which reduced the cost of living. It also reduced the chances of high-end items being available for purchase. The teacher also explained there were no shelters on planets deemed level-6 or higher.
Lana noticed a group of 5 travelers with a beast talking to one of the soldiers. She assumed since there was a beast with them, they had to be from the Bestiary family. Kattie had Sven on her shoulder, so she was used to seeing someone travel with a beast. Lana wondered why the teleport circle was outside the shelter and why a meeting took place outside the shelter if it was dangerous. She also didn't see any average citizens unlike at the previous shelter, just soldiers looking them over to ensure they had everything they needed. Safety was obviously paramount here.
Lana's team, minus herself were wearing their new boots and weapons. Since Almin chose to carry the device, the team lightened the load on his back by putting some of his stuff in their bags. She didn't believe in encumbering the slowest person making the party even slower the way other teams did.
On this outing, there was no expectation of killing beasts. Therefore, the levels Lana fought so hard to obtain didn't mean much. Still, she reviewed in her head: Dobin, Almin and Alto, level 4, Kattie was level 5 and she was level 6. She was very pleased. The additional levels obtained were quite welcome in her eyes.
At the beginning of the path she was looking at which was between her path and Blaine path, she saw a 6-foot tall S-shaped plant that had glowing blue rings all over it. She heard it speaking to her since she was near the front of the line. It offered to enhance her and her partner's sexual pleasure. Her face grew bright red. The mood of the majority of people was wonder but also a bit sour because no one liked muggy weather and this was muggy!
Her class started moving forward first and as soon as they got on the path, the voices of all the plants slammed her unexpectantly due to the sheer number of them. She dropped to her knees holding her head with a scream. Her team was around her in a second and the teacher was right behind them.
"Are you okay? What's wrong?" Nis asked.
She gulped then took deep breaths as the class looked annoyed at her. A few moments later she was able to get control of the plants she was talking to, telling them one at a time, please. They asked her many questions. She asked one in return telling them they were here to find plants and animals that had never been scanned along the path they were designated. The plants happily offered to help her. She asked them to wait just a second while she talked to her teacher.
"I'm sorry about that Sergeant Rage. All the plants were talking at once and it was so loud. They are offering to help us. Do you have a map of where this path leads? Or should I ask them to just point this out along the way?"
Nis brought out his tablet and pointed to where he was told to start and where the path of exploration had ended with the previous expedition of second-years.
Lana listened for a moment them smiled at the teacher, "Excellent place to start. I'll walk along side you if you don't mind."
Nis smiled, "I think I might start to like your ability…'
They walked for about 45 minutes when the plants told her there were some in the area that the previous humans had not scanned. Either 11 or 12, they were not certain.
"We need to stop here," she said to her teacher. "Do you mind if I take this part?'
Nis smiled and relaxed, "please do."
She spoke a bit louder than normal telling all the students to file into the area in front of her. "I want those carrying the scanners in front of me. I will describe the plant and where to find it. When the person with the scanner gets their assigned plant and heads off, I want their team to go with them. There are wandering beasts in the area that we may or may not see which are already known so I want this done as quickly as possible."
Students were already filing to the front. She looked to Almin and pointed, "that way, a pink heart with purple tendrils hanging off it."
"Oh, Sergent Rage, did you turn on the…" she chuckled as he hit the button.
The next person in front of her, she pointed in a circle to make it easier, counterclockwise. So to the left of where she sent her own team she sent this one, "purple S-shaped leaves, only a foot tall. This one is woven into a bush so it's hard to spot." Off he went with his team.
To the next person in line, "you get two for one. This may be hard to scan because they are growing together. One is all burnt orange with yellow speckles, the other is yellow with burnt orange speckles."
The next one stood in front of her, "How do we know you are telling the truth and not just trying to get all the points for your team?"
She looked at this ungrateful idiot then moved on to the person behind him. The young lady smiled at Lana's response and appeared to listen up. "directly behind us, they are kinda crescent moon shaped but a reddish color? Maybe closer to maroon. That is the flower. The stem, I can't even describe the color. Maybe greyish purple?"
The girl chuckled and ran off with her team close on her heels. By this time, her team had already returned with a thumbs up and a smile.
To the next one behind the annoying idiot, she stated, "it's a vine that looks like this," she grew a vine and withered it just a bit so it was slightly dehydrated and brownish but not dry fully. She winked at the young lady because this wasn't a plant but a snake. She hurried off and Lana told her team to stay close to her.
Again, behind the impatient wimp, she pointed, "yellow cup flower with green tendrils handing off near the bottom instead of the top."
Finally, she heard the word she was waiting for. "I'm sorry for doubting you. May I please have an assignment?"
Lana smiled, "I see you have found your manners. Over there is what is being described as an annoying insect on the bottom of a leaf having a meal. The plant is asking us to make it go away. It is classified as a beast and has a basic tier crystal. If you can, kill it. If not, please just move it. The leaf under attack is purple with neon green spirals. Remember, bottom side of the leaf so you need to turn the leaf over."
The next team also decided to ask a question. "Why are you doing this rather than let us all search and you take all the points?"
She laughed. "Simple. One, this planet is beautiful and I want to see as much of it as I can. Two, the teacher has done a great job so far this year and I would like him to get recognized for a job well done. So let's do a good job."
To this group, "over there between a tree and a bush. Where is your group? Come forward because this one is tricky to find. It looks like a rock about this big," she holds her hands up showing about three inches in diameter. "There is a yellow stem sticking up out the center that looks like it is part of another plant so it was easily overlooked. The flower on top is actually a bunch of tendrils which are black." She made sure they got that then patted the young lady with the scanner on the shoulder, "off you go."
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