The First Legendary Beast Master

Chapter 1116: Karl Can Tank?

What Karl didn’t realize, because he had never been with a group that stood a chance of pulling the monsters away from him, was that [Intimidation] was a form of taunt effect, that increased the likelihood that the target would focus on you.

Ophelia had a lesser version of it on all her attacks, and it had made it nearly impossible for her not to be the main tank. But Karl could activate it at will, he just never bothered.

He also had [Overwhelming Presence] which would cause a [Terror] type of effect, and freeze enemies in place for a few seconds. So, between the two, Karl was fairly certain that he would be alright.

”Do you have a lot of combat buffs?” Cindy asked.

”I’ve got plenty of buffs, and a varied selection of combat skills from my beasts. I suppose the biggest ones would be Shatter, Sharpness, Crushing Blows, Devastate, Rampage, Pack Tactics, Territorial, Limited Invulnerability, Trollish Regeneration, Bestial Champion, Brutal Pugilist, and Avatar.”

The other four simply stared at him as he listed skill after skill.

”And, all of those are active?” Reggie asked.

Karl nodded. ”I don’t always use them all, but Territorial will be essential for my role as Tank, and the rest all increase damage for my whole bonded team. Well, for the whole team if I extend some of them over everyone in the Dungeon. But the majority are passive skills.”

”I don’t even know what some of those skills do. Like, what even is [Devastate]?” Marcus asked.

Karl laughed. ”Skills that do more than ten percent of the target’s health do double damage.”

”Of course they do. Because you weren’t strong enough already. I think that our employers for the day will be pleased with the group that we chose. I know that the healers will.” The Arcane Mage joked.

Reggie and Don nodded. They were very pleased with this setup.

They finished their drinks and got up. ”Alright, the others should be at the entrance to the Dungeon. Let’s go show off.”

Karl tried not to laugh. Their whole group, himself included, was wearing the latest fashion made by Rae. He wasn’t in armour, he was just wearing a casual outfit with a polo shirt and slacks, but they were still Totem Ranked items made by Rae.

City guards stopped them when they reached the staging area, and waited for someone to introduce them, so they knew who was entering.

”Five members of the Nara Group Guild Alliance joining twenty members of the Jackalope Group.” Cindy explained.

”On your left. Entry fee, please.”

Cindy handed over a bag and the guard ushered them through to meet the rest of the group.

Much to Karl’s dismay, there was one visible mage, four Rogues, and the rest of the team all showed the same basic brown of the Warrior Class, with no advanced classes among them.

They were all Totem Ranked, so they weren’t doing anything strange, but the fact that not a single one of them had managed to advance was somewhat depressing. He was going to have to start hiring Inscriptionists to make Skill Books so more of the Alliance members could trigger advancements.

”Gentlemen, Cindy. Who is the new tank?” A muscular Dragonkin Warrior named Steve asked.

”This is Karl. He’s an unconventional one, a Beast Master. He tanks with bonded beasts and summons, but he’s got Intimidation on hit, so just give him a couple of seconds to grab the Myceloids’ attention and it’ll be fine.

Bear with us for a few pulls, it’s his first time here, he just moved from Drodh when his Guild joined our alliance.” She replied.

The warrior sighed. ”Well, a tank is a tank. If that’s what your healers want, we won’t argue.”

He led the way into the gate of the Dungeon, with Karl right beside him. Once Karl was sure that everyone was inside, and verified the head count, he called out the team, and then began adding summons.

Bodyguards, Epic Guard, Haint, Dire Bear Golems, and then the Undead Army.

”Thor, you’re responsible for positioning the bears and the undead to tank for the group. Be sure to listen for instructions.” Karl instructed.

Thor nodded happily and bugled in joy at getting to smash giant mushroom people.

They looked tasty.

”That’s... not what I was expecting. Also, I think that your partner just robbed one of my warriors.”

”Cara, give him back his sword.”

Cara shrugged and handed the weapon back. She was just taking a look, it was a bonded weapon anyhow.

”Are you sure that these beasts are all suitable for combat?” Steve asked.

Karl nodded. ”Don’t underestimate her, the Chaos Badger is a monster in combat.”

But Steve was looking at Hawk, who had gotten Thor to shrink him so that he was the size of a large bird, but he was in [Lord of Destruction] form, so he was an ethereal blue form, like a lesser Fire Elemental.

”Oh, he’s been reduced in size for the fight. A thirty-metre long Ghostfire Thunderbird isn’t exactly Dungeon friendly. It doesn’t affect his power, only his mobility.” Karl explained.

”What did we get ourselves into?” One of the warriors asked as Rae summoned all of her undead and Golems, then moved them to the side, so everyone knew they weren’t the tanks. They looked similar, but hers blended into the background as she activated [Perfect Camouflage] on them.

”Alright, what do I need to know about the first few pulls? Thor looks like he’s going to run off and eat someone if we don’t let him at the mushrooms.”

Steve laughed. ”One of the major loot items at the end of the battle is a magical resource called mushroom steaks. They’re a Totem Ranked food that grants combat buffs, though. So please don’t let him just eat everything.”

Thor nodded.

[Got it. Leave the loot items alone, eat the bodies of the mushroom men.]

There were even some tasty looking new herbs growing off to the side of the path that he was going to need to pick for his space.