The First Legendary Beast Master

Chapter 942: MICE!

Hawk dove towards the farm, and the Dwarves working the field looked up in horror at the massive flaming bird coming for them and their livestock.

Then he banked hard and let loose a stream of blue fire through the Giant Stone Rats. Fur burned away, and anguished howling filled the air, even thousands of metres away, where Karl was watching the scene.

The beasts put up earth barriers to defend themselves, or tunnelled underground. But the farmers were ready for that tactic, and an [Earthquake] type spell collapsed the tunnels and forced the rats back to the surface.

The Giant Stone Rats were a Royal Ranked menace to Dwarven society with their earth magic and voracious appetite. But they also left networks of tunnels near the surface that were a threat to livestock, who often stepped on a shallow tunnel and fell through. That could cause broken limbs, or even trap young animals.

That alone was enough to put the species on the most hated beasts list for farmers everywhere.

However, as Karl watched the battle, he realized that calling these things ʼratsʼ was more of an epithet than a description. They were quite furry, with no tails. More of a hamster than a rat.

Not that Hawk cared. They were still a form of mice to him.

He was collecting bodies by the dozen as he roasted them from above, and he had put out a few [Hellstorm] vortexes on the road so that they wouldnʼt damage the crops.

Cara was laughing in her space as Hawk went wild, trying to hunt as many of the Giant Stone Rats as he could before they all ran away.

They had already started to scatter, and Hawk was having to hurl fireballs further by the second, but the farmers were celebrating the surprise intervention by a passing bird monster.

They hadnʼt noticed Karl still floating in the sky, they were too focused on Hawk, so they were under the impression that Hawk was just a wild beast passing by.

Plus, Karl was so far above the battle, that he was only a black spot in the sky, which any normal person would assume was some sort of bird, and not a flying humanoid.

[Thatʼs as many as I can get. The rest are hiding too deep.] Hawk decided, then collected the last of his snacks and turned back to the sky, where Karl was waiting for him.

[Do you have enough to last you a while now?]

[At least two weeks. Theyʼre only Royal Ranked, so theyʼre not very filling, but the taste is superb. I can use them as snacks between meals.]

Karl moved himself into position in front of Hawkʼs wings as the bird passed underneath, and they were off on their mission to the west again, passing over the Narabar river.

With the mountain range giving way to craggy hills, the number of farms and wild beasts increased, but most of them were no threat to the farmers. Eliminating all the wildlife caused more problems than it solved, so the Dwarves only dealt with the most destructive or dangerous of them, and let the others live their lives.

Sometimes with encouragement to stay away from the fields and pastures.

The stone houses of the locals dotted the landscape, though Karl saw very few fences, with most of the Dwarven Goats being free-range. Only the pigs were usually penned in.

Most of an hour later, they passed to the north of a stone monolith of a city that intrigued Karl. It looked like the Dwarves had fully carved out a mountain into a city, but it wasnʼt positioned anywhere that a mountain belonged, so it was most likely an entirely magical construct.

The map said that it should be the city of Bundin, and he made a mental note to come see it if they flew back this way again.

As lunch approached, Karl and Hawk started a new game, where Karl would hurl one of the Giant Stone Rats into the distance in front of them, so Hawk could attack it and get his meal without stopping.

Rae was thinking that it wouldnʼt hurt to have Hawk miss a meal or two. The bird was getting pudgy under his flaming feathers. But he was doing all the hard work, so there was no harm in snacking while he exercised.

As they moved further west, the ground became more arid, and the temperature steadily increased, creating a headwind as well as an up draft that Hawk could glide on.

It wasnʼt a full on desert yet, but Karl could see in the distance that they were leaving the lush tropical regions behind them.

[I see bears.] Hawk happily informed Karl not long after the land had begun to change.

[Lower your altitude, I think that city down there should be Barukth.] Karl instructed.

By his best guess, it was about thirty thousand people, and Karl could see many animal ears among the mostly Trollish heads working the farms between them and the city.

[Should we let the others out?] Hawk asked.

[When weʼre a ten-minute walk from the city. You know that we will get distracted by something if we let them out too early.] Karl joked.

Hawk landed on the road in front of the last farm before the city, outside of the area that the city guard was patrolling, and Karl whistled into the Tiny World to let the others know that they were at their destination.

”Give us ten minutes, weʼre finishing a game of cards.” Tessa shouted back, not realizing that Karl could hear everything that went on in the space if he wanted to.

”Alright, I will ask the guards about incidents in the area, and I will let you know when weʼre inside the city. Do you want me to get a room right away? Or should we check out the market first?” Karl replied.

”Call us before you enter the city. Lotus wants to see the beastkin.”