?lodged between the gap of two boulders, Mako could see a purple reflection of a shiny loot crate. It was hidden so well that the rest of the group was shocked to see that Mako was able to notice it even as they were running so fast past it.


    Of course, Mako would have never noticed the purple loot crate if he wasn''t constantly using Analyze on everything as he ran past, but he couldn''t reveal this secret to anyone yet and just acted like he got lucky.


    Leon quickly moved the boulders apart using his Earth ability and the bare purple loot crate came into view. Wasting no time at all, Mako opened the crate so that he could see just how overpowered were these high-level loot crates and quickly get a move on as they were still on a time crunch.


    He pressed the button on the top of the crate and pulled on the lever next to it to open the lid.


    The crate made the same small hissing sound as the lid was opened indicating that the crate was sealed airtight. It was still a mystery to Mako how was the military able to introduce new rarity crates on the ind at a moment''s notice because they weren''t on the ind since the beginning and were added just as the announcement was made.


    The contents of the crate were five small little ck containers. The lid itself had a screen on the inside and on it was a disy that exined what was inside each container.


    The screen on the lid of the loot crate disyed:


    [High Tier Healing Pills x 5]


    [Self-Heating MRE x 15: Self-heating ready-to-eat meals that can provide instant and warm food during emergencies.]


    [Nano-Filtered Water Bottle x 3: A high-tech water bottle that uses nano-filtration technology to instantly purify water, making it safe to drink.]


    [AI-Powered Companion Drone x 1: An advanced drone equipped with artificial intelligence that can assist in various tasks such as surveying surroundings, giving recon, and providing security surveince.]


    [High Tier Storm Caller''s Staff]


    The number of items that they just got from a singr crate was justpletely mind-boggling. A single purple-tier loot crate was able to provide items for healing, eating, and drinking.


    In addition to that, one of the small little ck containers contained a miniature drone that also came with a small control device that had many features that would help them scout out dangerous areas without exposing themselves, and also help keep watch at night while they rested.


    However, the biggest shocker was inside thest small ck container that somehow contained a 6-foot staff inside. As Mako opened the container, it didn''t feelpressed orpact at all, but as soon as he removed the lid, therge staff shot out of the container, much like knotted pieces of cloth that seem to never end from a magician''s hat.


    Mako was quite amazed and intrigued as to how the military was able to store such big items in small containers, but he would just have to add this to his list of questions he wanted answers to as soon as he arrived at military school.


    The staff was 6 feet tall and its shaft was crafted from what appeared to be wood. The wood was adorned with intricate carvings of hieroglyphics, swirls, lightning bolts, and storm clouds. At the top of the staff rested a yellow crystal orb surrounded by a crown of silvery metal with intricate lightning bolt designs etched onto every surface.


    Mako picked up the staff and used Analyze on it to see what kind of stats and abilities would the staff have.


    As Mako grabbed the staff, the crystal orb started to pulse with the power of thunder. Inside the orb, bolts of lightning dance and crackle, casting a pale yellow light that illuminated the area around it.


    [Analyze]


    [High Tier Storm Caller''s Staff] ?


    [A 6-foot long staff crafted from the crystal and wood of the Storm Caller beast tree found in (Unknown). An excellent weapon created by (Unknown).]


    [Strength +15]


    [Agility +15]


    [Stamina +5]


    [Attack: 70]


    [Active skill: Lightning Mode Change] ?


    [Lightning Mode Change: The hilt of the Storm Caller''s staff has the ability to be moved up or down the shaft which increases or decreases the height of the overall shaft. The change in height of the staff indicates the change of the three avable modes.]<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    [Mode: Chain Lightning Mode] ?


    [Chain Lightning Mode: When the staff is at its tallest height, the staff releases a bolt of lightning that strikes the target. The lightning then arcs to other nearby enemies, dealing decreasing amounts of damage of 5% with each jump. Using this mode requires a cooldown of ten seconds between each strike.]


    [Mode: Concentrated Lightning Mode] ?


    [Concentrated Lightning Mode: When the staff is at its lowest height, the staff releases a concentrated bolt of lightning that strikes the target, dealing massive damage. The lightning arc is twice as strong as the aura provided, dealing increased damage by 200%. Using this mode requires a cooldown of 5 minutes between each strike.]


    [Mode: Normal Mode] ?


    [Normal Mode: When the staff is at its normal height, no mode is activated and the staff can be used to fight normally, and lightning attacks can still be directed through it, but they won''t be amplified or altered in any way.]


    [NOTE: Only a lightning ability user can wield the Storm Caller''s staff and use its active skills as all of them require the aura of the lightning user to work. Since the Strom Caller is only High tier, it can only use lightning aura up to level 4 effectively. Even if the aura is stronger than a level 4, the attack released by the staff will be capped at level 4 and won''t exceed.]


    Mako felt like the ind was finally giving him a break after putting him through so many hardships since the beginning. The staff looked like it was designed for Mako in particr as it was absolutely perfect.


    Mako had a level 4 lightning ability which was the maximum that the staff would ept so he was going to be able to pull out the maximum damage potential from the staff. Secondly, since he was the only lightning ability user in their group, there wasn''t even a debate as to who should wield the Storm Caller''s Staff.


    With the staff in Mako''s hand, Mako decided that it was only fair that someone else would get to use hisbat knife for the time being since he couldn''t use two weapons at once and so he decided to hand hisbat knife to the obvious person, Erin.


    Since Erin had unlocked her ice ability, she was the best person to give a weapon that also had an ice affinity.


    Since the group was still on a time crunch and they needed to reach the area where they were going to build their shelter, they quickly stored all the contents of the purple loot crate in their backpacks and resumed their journey up the mountain.


    ***********


    By noon, the group had almost made it to the summit of the mountain. The terrain they had been trekking on had constantly been a slope, but as they reached the top, the terrain had ttened out a bit and the scenery was so beautiful it was beyond what words could describe.


    As soon as the ground leveled out, the group came across an opening where a medium-sizedke seemed to be the source of the stream that was flowing down the mountain earlier.


    Theke had crystal clear water that reflected the sky above with 100% uracy. There were several trees, all neatly surrounding theke with one corner being exposed as there was nothing but in grass there.


    It seemed that nature itself was screaming to them to build their shelter in the clear grass opening next to theke, and they took the hint as they stopped near the bank of theke to rest up before starting to build their shelter.


    The shelter was mostly going to be made out of stone using the Earth ability, but it could be further reinforced using wooden logs and enriched y and mud from the bed of theke. The group had divided different tasks among themselves so that they could hopefully finish by the end of the day.


    Bill and Leon were going to work on constructing the shelter using their Earth ability. Erin and Iris were responsible to gather wood logs and branches which the guys could use to make sure the shelter was sturdy and wouldn''t copse.


    Erin and Iris had already practiced making a shelter with Sven several times beforeing for the test so they were quite knowledgeable in that department and already knew what to do.


    The two of them surrounded the nearest tree by standing on opposite sides. They created a singr ring of water that surrounded the tree. Now Iris began spinning the water ring by focusing her aura to the right so that the water circle would start to spin counterclockwise. Erin did the same and double the eleration and speed of the water ring.


    The water ring began to spin faster and faster as both girls pushed their auras onto the water. Once it was spinning fast enough, Erin began shrinking the water ring making it so that it slowly got closer and closer to the tree.


    Eventually, the spinning ring of water made contact with the bark of the tree and it cut straight through like butter. It didn''t take long as the girls pushed the water ring through the entire tree making it fall on its side.


    Just like that, the girls had already gathered a log of wood in under 2 minutes.


    Mako, on the other hand, was nowhere to be seen while the four of them worked in the shelter. Mako had taken the responsibility of scouting the area for an information tablet. Since they were going to live here now, it was crucial that they locate an information tablet close to the base from where they could receive daily updates.


    Mako was currently controlling the AIpanion drone and using it to scan the trees near their shelter to try and see if there was an information tablet there or not. So far, Mako had no luck as he had basically checked the entire line of trees next to theke.


    With no other option, Mako had to now venture outwards and try to locate the closest information tablet that they could use.