The First Legendary Beast Master

Chapter 1027: More Howlers

The second group was also Sand Howlers, but less powerful ones from the same spawn.

[Hawk, do you see the source of the spawn?] Karl asked.

[I think that it might be gone. Look closely at them, some of these have a lot of old damage on them. I think that theyʼve been out here for months or more.] Hawk replied.

If that was the case, it would make sense that the origin anomaly was long gone.

The changing terrain of the inner regions of Gabil actually explained a lot of the issues that they were having closer to the shore line.

The monsters changed with the changes in terrain, so even if they cleared out all the ones that were coming out, and then went across the whole country in a wave of destruction, as soon as things changed, they would have to start over.

The best that they could hope for was to keep them contained to the central areas.

But there were said to be System Stones, or something equivalent to them, in the middle of the nation, and Karl was hopeful that they might actually manage to find them if they could find the centre of the region that was being altered.

A couple or ten thousand years without maintaining a defensive illusion might be enough to cause this chaos, assuming it was powerful enough.

Opal shook sparkles from her wings in excitement. Yes, that could happen, if you upgraded [Illusionary Domain] to something that would affect the real world.

Her illusionary world could get a bit out of control as it was, since she created beings with an approximation of intelligence and free will. Left unsupervised, they would often do strange things, and she would have to add further instructions to keep them from changing too much.

That was why she didnʼt put Dwarves in the illusionary world at the Guild House. If she left them unsupervised, they would renovate the whole city, and she would have to either learn the new layout or change it all back.

Both would be chaos for the Guild Members who worked in the area, like the Alchemists.

[The Orcs are coming our way.] Hawk warned when the group was almost to the Sand Howlers.

”Weʼve got incoming Orcs, and a fight. Everyone get ready, they might want to compete.” Karl warned.

The Orcs turned toward their group, so Karl altered course to meet them instead of the monsters.

”Well met Chieftain.” Karl shouted as the Orcs approached.

”Totem Karl, well met. Are you hunting Sand Howlers for fur blankets?” The largest of the Orcs asked.

”Blankets? No, we have plenty. Weʼre hunting them for fun, and because it makes the Black Dragon happy to bring the monster numbers back to balance.”

The Orc laughed at Karlʼs explanation.

”Well, if that is the case, would you like to have your people and mine compete? We can deal with the Totem, and then our clans can see who gets more pelts.”

Karl nodded. ”Rae, go collect that Totemʼs body and bring it back to us, so the others can start their challenge.”

The Orc looked confused for a few seconds until Rae reappeared with a decapitated Sand Howler. It had taken all her tricks to ambush that thing, and her Golems had punched a half dozen holes in the front before she cut the head off from behind.

But it worked fast enough to impress the Orcs.

”There arenʼt more Totems in your group, are there?” The Chieftain asked.

Karl shook his head. ”Just the two of us, but we have some powerful Overlords.”

The Orc shrugged. Powerful Overlords were good counterparts for his tribe, and his Orcs had many more people. Not more Overlords, but more combatants capable of dealing with Royal Rank Sand Howlers.

The ladies got out of the carriage, and the Chieftain smiled. ”Oh, you have a good group. Red, black and green Dragon Priestesses. Though I see that they have all managed to advance their classes. Yes, this should be a good fight.”

Then Cara came out to join the fun, and the Orcs began to look confused.

”What is that? It looks like a Void Badger, but with wings.” The Chieftain asked.

”She was originally a winged void badger. But she managed to enter an instance and evolved into a Chaos Badger.” Karl explained.

The Chieftain nodded slowly. ”I suppose there really are things beyond our comprehension in this world. To think that an apex predator could evolve even further.

You have powerful friends, Totem Karl.

A Blood Destruction Spider, that Chaos Badger, a Naga Queen, a Behemoth, multiple dragon clerics, and a Black Dragon, plus a Blademaster.”

Then the Orc did a double take. ”Oh, I am sorry, Miss Ophelia. I thought that you were another summoned assistant, like the Dire Bears. I didnʼt notice your name right away.”

That was something that Karl realized he really should do. Keeping the System interface active would let him know who around him was illusionary or created by a spell without using Soul Sight.

Soul Sight didnʼt fail him often, but redundant scouting methods were best.

The Sand Howlers were already running at them, so the Chieftain stopped speaking and motioned for his team to engage.

”Ladies, youʼre free to engage. Whichever team gets more pelts wins the fight. The three Totems will sit out the fight unless you get in trouble.” Karl explained.

Tessa laughed. There were dozens of Orcs here, all eager for a fight. The Sand Howlers were the ones in danger, not them.

But Dana rolled her eyes.

”Always a reason to slack off.” She joked.

”I will get started on the setup for the feast after the battle.” Karl offered.

”Make plenty of tables. It looks like even the kids want to get in on this challenge.” She agreed.

She wasnʼt joking. Even the Commander Rank Orcs in their teen years were taking out blades and joining teams of more powerful warriors. The only ones remaining behind were the pregnant women and the small children.

Even an ancient looking old shaman woman was hobbling toward the fight with her cane.