The First Legendary Beast Master

Chapter 833  Hot Spots

The next morning, before breakfast, Karl headed to the gate to get a map of the hotspots that the Lord of Drodh was requesting adventurers to take care of.

”Lord Karl, always a pleasure to see you. What can we help you with?” The guard on duty asked.

”We were thinking of going out on a little hunting trip, now that all of the ladies have reached Monarch Rank. Was there anywhere in particular that might be a good location for us? I was told that you have a full map of the target locations.” Karl explained.

”Oh, I know just the right one for you. There is an overpopulation of Magical Beasts by Qidrekh. Itʼs about two hundred fifty kilometres from here in a straight line, but the road runs west to Nelbukh first and then north.

East of the town, youʼll find a huge number of pygmy stone crushers. Theyʼre a form of Earth Element boar, and theyʼre a proper nuisance.

Overlord Rank, but their attack power is limited. If you can get through their defences, you should be able to wipe out a few packs and collect a handy reward, plus some fresh food for that Thunderbird of yours. He looks like the sort that appreciates a well roasted boar.”

Karl nodded. ”How many are we talking about? A day or two to clear them out?”

The Guard laughed. ”Theyʼre everywhere in the west. But they donʼt usually come into the populated areas. The report on the map says there are close to a thousand in the region. Normally, the Leg Regiment would be sent to deal with them, but theyʼre dealing with an undead horde along the Bozd River right now. Theyʼre split up into dozens of units and scattered through the grasslands, in no position to change positions to deal with the boars.

No matter how good they taste.”

Karl winked at the Guard. ”So, youʼre saying the Guard wouldnʼt mind if I happened to drop one off here on the way back?”

”No, I donʼt imagine we would mind at all. The Frostfire Gate Guard detachment would gladly help you dispose of any extra Stone Crushers you might bring back.”

[Ask about mice.] Hawk insisted.

”Are there any mouse or rat type species that might be a menace in need of our assistance? Hawk, the Ghostfire Thunderbird, has a particular thing for rat type species.” Karl asked as he took the map of hotspots from the guard.

”Not close. There was a report of Ratmen by the Orcs up in KudʼUg. But I donʼt know if those count. Theyʼre not a properly sentient species, so theyʼre mostly treated like any other forms of vermin.”

Hawk didnʼt know either. While they were called Ratmen, there was no guarantee of flavour. For all he knew, they might actually taste like monkey.

All the way to the northern border of the nation for a hunting expedition seemed a little excessive anyhow. Though, they could likely use the portal, couldnʼt they? If they could come in at the portal altar, they should be able to go to other places with one as well. Or even leave from that one, if there was a mage on duty.

[You need to get the Dana Mage a Portal spell.] Hawk realized.

[As soon as we find one, I will make sure that she gets a copy.] Karl agreed.

All of the students and apprentices had their tasks for the day already. In the case of the teachers from Lared, a simple task assigned by Karl that would take them all day to optimize and test.

He wanted them to make a noncombat enhancement using runes that would improve a given trade skill by more than thirty percent. It didnʼt matter which one, but Karl knew that it was not easy to make a trade skill improve with a runic item, so they would be at it for some time, trying to create an Epic Ranked combination.

”Alright, we have a target. Earth Element boars. There are about a thousand Overlord Rank and weaker monsters terrorizing the wilderness a hundred and some kilometres from here. So, we will take a day trip and go wipe them out, or at least a lot of them, and then fly back.” Karl explained as everyone gathered for dinner.

Moira looked concerned. ”Are you really going to challenge an Overlord Ranked Monster Pack? There is a reason that they can get so close to major cities.”

Karl shrugged. ”Thatʼs really the difference between scattered homesteads, and an organized Guild Raid on the herd, though. Weʼre not defending property or family, so weʼre not afraid to cause extensive terrain redecoration. If there is one thing that our Guild is good at, itʼs mass destruction.” Tessa thought about it a second, and then nodded. Even Thor now had a wide area damage spell, even if it was primarily defensive in nature. But with the boars having limited attack power, and everyone sharing [Void Body] in combat, this battle was going to be a brutal one.

Hawk stepped out of his space to lay down in the yard, and Rae set up a full harness for him, so the entire group could sit and not rely on his abilities to keep them from falling off.

Not that Hawk would have a problem doing it, but it was a reassuring feeling to be secured.

Hawk knew the destination, and this was Overlord Ranked boar meat. Boars were his second favourite, right behind mice. So, as soon as they were all in place, he was racing into the sky, holding nothing back to get to the target as fast as possible.

All that the people of the suburbs saw was a blue streak of fire leave the city and disappear over the horizon. Those with higher power levels could identify it as an Overlord Rank flame, but none of them could do more than guess what the purpose was. Some suspected that it was actually that Ghostfire Thunderbird in a hurry, but it had been moving so fast, that they couldnʼt tell.

The experience was therapeutic for Hawk, who hadnʼt had a good excuse to really stretch his wings over a long distance in ages. He was so fast that if he hurried, most of the places they went were only a few minutes away.