The First Legendary Beast Master

Chapter 932: All Aboard For Bara

”Would you all like to go to Bara?” Karl asked.

Dana shrugged. ”It sounds interesting. A whole city full of Dwarves might be fun for Lotus. She might actually find people her own height.”

Lotus stuck out her tongue at the mage, but Dana had a point. If there was a city full of people her height, it was most likely going to be in the Dwarven territories. It might be interesting to not be a full head shorter than everyone.

Rae quickly disassembled their resting spot and the butterfly ended the illusion that was hiding it in the forest.

”Well, it looks like this is farewell for now. Unless you want to use our portal to Bara.” Karl informed the dragons.

Both shook their heads, so Karl opened the way to the Dwarven city, and stepped through while Lotus gave one last round of hugs.

Karl had brought them to the platform by the dungeon, and today was especially crowded within the Dwarven city. From the chatter Karl could hear, the city was preparing for an upcoming holiday, so everyone was at the markets stocking up in preparation for family coming to visit.

”Oh, meat wraps!” Lotus cheered as she ran away from the group.

Karl smiled and waved at the Dwarf, who immediately began setting more kebabs over the fire.

”How many might you need today, young Miss?” The Dwarf asked.

Lotus was going to complain about his nickname, then realized he was at least a century older than she was. From his point of view, the name was perfectly reasonable.

”One for everyone in the group here. Then two more.” Lotus decided, as Hawk and Cara had both returned to their spaces, while Thor and Rae were in humanoid form and Remi was out to see the city.

It was heavily earth element, but there was a lot of shamanistic power in Bara, and Remi was loving the feeling. Plus, with the Dwarves all being so short, even at her current size, she could see so much more through the crowd than she could in Drodh, with all the oversized Wrath Demons and wings in the way.

They were waiting for their food when a familiar white bearded Dwarf came stomping in their direction.

”Overlord Karl, good timing. We have collected your payment.” Slate Petros, the Totem Ranked Shaman from their political delegation, greeted them.

”Shaman Petros, itʼs a pleasure to see you again.”

The Dwarf took out a large stone chest and placed it on the ground. ”Thatʼs everything that we owed you for the weapon, and some other incidentals. I see that youʼve got the spider with you again, her portion of your payment is still nice and fresh.”

Rae curiously opened the chest and found a five gallon pail with a lid sealed on it, but she could smell the blood and feel the power coming from it as she transferred it to her space.

”Thank you. That will do wonderfully.” She informed him with an elaborate bow.

A whole bucket full of Mythic Rank blood couldnʼt have been easy to get, but the Dwarves had done it. The fact that the rest of the chest was filled with magical gems and rare metal coins was irrelevant to her.

She had gotten the part that she wanted.

”Are you here to do the Dungeon again? I hear that the last one went much more smoothly than expected.” Petros asked.

”We might. Most of my guild members are still Monarchs, but I think that we can make it work with a few extra Overlords to fill the numbers. But that will be tomorrow at the earliest. Today, weʼre going to explore the city a bit and sample the food.

Priestess Nachtia also wants to hunt some of the excess monsters in the inland region, so we will be headed there in the next few days.” Karl explained.

Petros nodded. ”If you go straight west through the pass, youʼll find a number of the problematic beasts. I donʼt know if you will want to keep one for your collection, but the number of them is out of control.”

Lotus turned away from watching the food to question the Shaman. ”What sort of beasts are they that Karl might want to keep them?”

The Dwarf chuckled, knowing that Lotus would be even more interested than Karl.

”Most of the overpopulation issue is with Owlbear type monsters and Sand Yeti. The Owlbears are native to the region, but overpopulated. The Sand Yeti tribes have been driven south by the wet summer north of us.

The sand has been flooding, and collapsing their nests, so they moved into the mountains to stay dry.

Theyʼre quite the pest, but their fur is soft, and their potential is good.” He explained.

”You had me at soft fur.” Lotus agreed.

Nachtia frowned. ”Arenʼt Owlbears also soft?”

Lotus nodded happily. ”Very soft. But theyʼre feathered, not furry.”

That was apparently an important distinction, though nobody was under any illusions that Lotus would not try to cuddle the Owlbears just because they had feathers instead of fur.

Karl smiled at the Dwarven Shaman. ”Perhaps we should head for another sector of high population beasts. Asking this particular team to go after the cutest and cuddliest of monsters is a bit of a challenge.”

Petros and the food stall vendor both laughed at the insinuation. Indeed, it was hard to get teams to control the Owlbears, as they were generally good-natured, unless you got too close to their young, and they were good about keeping pests away from the livestock.

The Sand Yeti population, on the other hand, was far from beloved.

”Why donʼt you head further up the river towards Nulnalgat? Then youʼll be out of Owlbear territories, and the only powerful monsters youʼll find in excess are the Sand Yeti? That should be a solid compromise.” Petros offered.

Lotus shrugged, so Karl nodded in agreement. ”Alright, I will ask the city guard for an incident map tomorrow. Today, we will explore the city and take a rest. I hear that Dwarven Hospitality comes with ale soaked brisket and roast potatoes.”