The First Legendary Beast Master

Chapter 1006: Lord Of The Hawks

Hawk cheered as he hunted crabs in the dark.

His flames burst out in bright white flames, leaving only a light blue afterimage of his feathers at the core, and then his fire attacks advanced from Overlord to Totem Ranked. It might not have been his own effort that advanced his flames before his body, but winning was winning.

He was the second to have a Totem Ranked skill.

Well, third, if you counted Tian, but Tian was too cute to count as a combatant.

Their newest addition was already having a significant effect on the others as well. Hawk had noticed that Thor was feeling extra protective with a hatchling in the group, and Remi spent all her time outside her lab in a greatly reduced version of her Spirit Snake form.

He wasnʼt sure whether turning back into a small Spirit Snake actually made her cuter, but Remi was quite certain that it did. It didnʼt affect her spell casting abilities in any way, so Hawk mostly ignored it.

Looking at his transformed body, Hawk realized that he still looked like himself, only with hotter flames on the outside. But when he dove to attack a crab for a close range flaming Rend, he could pass through tree branches, as if he were made of pure fire.

Of course, that set the scraggly little tree on fire. But that was a minor side effect.

The real concern was that he couldnʼt grab the crabs in this form without using a skill. That part was annoying.

The damage was still so worth it.

He called it a night just an hour after Karl got him the new skill. It was already getting close to morning, and he needed more sleep than Rae did. So, if he didnʼt sleep now, he wouldnʼt be able to keep up with his scouting duties after breakfast.

Even Cara and Rae eventually returned to their spaces to sleep. They had collected so many of the crabs that they had to actually search for more at that point, and the rest of the group still needed something to do tomorrow.

Lotus woke everyone up with the smell of blueberry pancakes coming from the kitchen, and the team gathered to make their plan for the day.

”Should we go look for the core of the anomaly to see if there are good things? Or should we clear out all the crabs we can find first and see if it collapses?” Ophelia asked.

She knew that the beasts had been hunting in the dark, so there should be hundreds of crabs in storage by now.

”Speaking of which, can we still reach the Guild Store?” Tessa asked.

Lotus shook her head. ”I had to make my own ingredients today. Weʼre out of range of the Guild Store. But we can put things in the main Guild Bank and let them collect them.”

Karl shrugged. ”We can also open a portal back. Just let me know when we need to get something. Or ask Dana.”

Lotus smirked. ”I have come prepared. Plus, with this class advancement, I have incredible nature magic. We donʼt need to worry about plant-based ingredients.”

[Iʼve got nearly a monthʼs worth of average potion sales stocked at the store as well. No need to rush back.] Remi added silently.

She was back in Lamia form to eat breakfast, but Karl noticed that she was still using [Unobtrusive Behemoth] to shrink herself. The fork and knife were huge in her hands, but the greedy look that she was giving pieces of pancake which were each the size of her head was hilarious.

Karl checked the System Interface, and found that they were now in range of the Cyhosasa Guild House, though he didnʼt have access to its Guild Bank. That proximity was likely what gave them the link to the main Guild Bank, so as it was in the northern corner of this island, they should be good over the whole island if they really needed to move things.

But now that he thought about it, he could make Totem Ranked items. He hadnʼt had a chance to make any Totem Ranked Runic items yet.

There wasnʼt really anything that they needed. But he was curious what Totem Ranked runes looked like. They had gone through metallic, then purple, red and a greenish blue colour that seemed to shift to one or the other depending on the nature of the effect.

He did have a bit of Totem Ranked stone to work with, thanks to the Dwarves trading with him. He didnʼt have much for creation skills, though.

He did have a few Overlord Ranked weapons in his inventory. They were the ones that he was going to make for Oathbreaker to sell at the auction this month. They were Overlord Ranked ore, so it should be able to handle Totem Ranked runes.

Lord Drodh was going to lose his mind.

”You look suspiciously happy.” Dana noted.

”I just realized that I have a sword here for the auction that I havenʼt upgraded yet.”

Dana smirked and winked at him. ”And now you can imbue it with Totem Ranked runes. Well, letʼs see it. I think weʼre all interested now.”

Karl took out the Greatsword and placed it on the table to plan what he would do. It had a place for a gem in the pommel, so he could add a skill stone to it.

The others looked at the weapon on the table, wondering what sort of warrior it would be targeted to. It didnʼt suit Danaʼs style, and Ophelia had a nearly new pair of axes.

Karl thought about it for a moment, then decided not to troll the auction house that badly. He would make it for himself, in case he needed more reach in combat than the Blade of Champions allowed.

The Epic Guard was quite fond of the Haint Claw, and it was using it more often recently. That didnʼt cost Karl anything, as he still got the Soul Energy feed from the weapon even when the Epic Guard used it.

So, a backup sword for fighting larger targets would be alright.

If he put [Life Leech] and [Shatter] type runes on the blade, along with increased Skill Damage and durability runes, that would make a good base. Then the gem could be [Gravity Slam] so that he could counter much larger and heavier weapons.

Karl took out a Totem Ranked Earth Stone to carve the spell, then got to work on the blade.

Only when they were both finished and the gem was mounted did Karl begin to add the mana to upgrade the Runes.

The change in his power level was obvious as the runes rapidly flickered through the colours as they improved, a nearly effortless process on Karlʼs part.

The runes turned from red to blue, and then the light seemed to be sucked out of the room as the runes went pitch black. Karl stopped as the runesʼ power level equalized with his own, and admired his handiwork.

The gem had turned entirely black, hiding the runic writing. But the blade remained the same shimmering silver of Elven Steel, but engraved with delicate black lines, thanks to the tiny writing necessary to get all the effects that Karl wanted without writing too close to the edges of the blade.

{Achievement Obtained} Craft a Totem Ranked Runic Item

{Title Awarded} Rune Lord