The First Legendary Beast Master

Chapter 1049: Forget Boating

Once they were out of sight of the village, and Karl had ensured that there was nobody trying to follow them, he turned to the Naga.

”I will transform and bring Remi with me to the city of Khathar. This is becoming too much of a nuisance, and if we donʼt change methods, weʼre guaranteed to get into an unnecessary fight.” Karl insisted.

The Naga sighed, then nodded. ”I wonʼt argue. The Lizardmen control the first part of this region, and they hold a grudge against the Naga, so they wonʼt make it easy for us.”

Karl opened the Tiny Worldʼs entrance for him, and called for Thor to escort him to the others, as they were spread out through the swamp area in the Tiny World.

Then he transformed and went for a swim in the river as Remi climbed on his back and put away the boat. Once that was done and the golems were dismissed, Karl flapped up into the air with Remi stretched out flat on his back.

Water Control let her create a loop to hold herself in place, though the World Dragon form had ridges on its back that would make for a fairly sturdy grip, even without [Eternal Lightning] over them both, keeping the wind off her.

Karl didnʼt go as high as Hawk usually did, as the air got cold up there, and Remi wasnʼt a fire element creature. But flying lower gave them an excellent view of the territories that they passed over, and let Karl memorize a few new spots to add to his list of possible Portal destinations.

Every few minutes, he could see that someone had noticed them and pointed up at where he was flying overhead, but Karl was moving so fast that none of them put in the effort to try to intercept him.

It simply wasnʼt worth it.

{This is so much better. Wandering around the swamp on a boat was not only slow, but there were annoying people everywhere. Flying over populated areas is better.

Look, theyʼre even waving hello at us.} Remi narrated as they flew.

{I think that theyʼre actually trying to cast a spell to knock us out of the sky, but they donʼt have the range to make it this high.} Karl laughed.

They were definitely using magic, he could feel it, even from this distance.

{Should we go tell them to behave?} Remi asked.

She could probably hit them with a potion from here, but she left all the randomly exploding ones in the Tiny World, not in her own space, where she could more conveniently grab them.

What Karl could not have known was that the mere presence of an Avatar of the World Dragon was enough to influence the System, and that they were not casting hostile spells at him, they were casting celebratory blessings on the children who had just awakened their classes.

Some of the waving was hostile or annoyed, but only when they hadnʼt linked his presence to what was happening in the villages.

Karl followed the river to the border, then circled for a moment when he saw the ruins of an ancient wall.

It would have once been a mighty defensive fortification between Gabil and Nulnalgat, but now, it had gone thousands of years without maintenance, and most of it had collapsed or had been deconstructed to reuse the stones for housing.

That was what Mira had feared would happen to the Temple when she was gone, but there was no sign of the temple at all when the change happened.

Not even a foundation was left, and none of the houses nearby were ancient or made of stone.

Then, Karl continued east down the river for a few hundred kilometres until the road crossed at a grand stone bridge, and headed east to a city of around sixty thousand people.

That had to be Khathar, as it was the only large city in the region, according to the map that he had.

The rest were all small villages and tribal camps of the Naga, Trolls and Lizardmen.

So, Karl descended from the sky to land near the west gate and let Remi down. She chose to remain in Spirit Snake form so that she could float near his shoulder instead of landing in the muddy street.

”You know, for a Naga, you really are a clean freak.” Karl joked as he transformed back.

Remi wiggled in what he thought was a shrug. {Swamp water is like a herbal bath, but I can smell the nastiness in that mud. Dirt roads are just gross.}

So, Karl walked up to the city walls with Remi floating near his shoulder. They were met by a large Mountain Troll, close to four metres tall and broad shouldered, with thick gray skin and curious green eyes that sparkled like gemstones.

”State your name and business.” The troll announced in a bored voice that contradicted his clear interest in the answer.

”I am Karl and this is Remi. We are stopping here on our way to the Naga Shaman temple.”

The guard nodded. ”Do you have an invitation to the Temple? They donʼt accept random visitors.”

Karl smiled. ”They sent a request for us, yes.”

The Guard smiled, showing obsidian black teeth. ”One silver coin each to enter the city. If you wish to enter the auction, seats are for sale on your left, and items can be evaluated at the building on the right.”

”Oh, in that case, I might enter an item for the auction. I should have something worth selling to recoup the cost of the trip.” Karl agreed.

He still hadnʼt had time to make anything Totem Ranked, but he had a number of Overlord Ranked items with him.

So, he paid the toll and led Remi into the auctionʼs evaluation house, where a young Naga warrior stood staring at them in shock.

”Good morning?” Karl tried, as the man wasnʼt moving.

”Uh, good morning, Sir. Good morning, Your Majesty.”

[I like these people. Theyʼre all so polite.] Remi giggled in Karlʼs mind.

[I get the feeling that their shock at seeing a Queen is going to lead to something troublesome.] Karl countered.

[How much trouble could they cause? I have a Karl with me.]