The First Legendary Beast Master

Chapter 1417 In and Out

Misty immediately opened a portal and shoved him through, while Cara flew after him. It closed the second that Cara was through, and Karl realized that the Time Dragon was planning something to mess with whoever was watching her.

She would put on a big show there, and nobody would realize that her purpose was to send him somewhere.

Karl looked around him, wondering where he had been sent, and slowly

realized that this location looked rather familiar. It should be somewhere in the Swamps of Gabil, southwest of Lake Naraleddum.

He had been here before, when Remi was looking to advance, and they had been looking for signs of the instance that had the System Stones at that time as well.

Well, signs of that instance and the Undead army that was also looking for it, while destroying entire cities along the way. That was quite the mess, but Lord Bomgon had intended to destroy the stones, so that common humans and others couldnʼt gain more power.

There was no shortage of forces that wanted to destroy the System Stones, but the Giants were certainly among the top of the list.

They were already strong enough on their own that they didnʼt need much assistance from the System. It was more of a source of bonus skills for them than a growth opportunity. Though, that could be said for the dragons as well. They would eventually grow up, even without the System helping them.

”We should have asked her what direction to go.” Cara sighed, then shifted into badger form.

Karl transformed into his usual cat form, then reconsidered, and used [Greater Beast Form] to give it an upgrade.

The two cat forms were similar enough that it still felt like himself, but it was stronger than the original.

”Well, there is a town off in the distance, we should go ask someone where exactly we are. Iʼve got a pretty good idea, but we can reference the last time we went looking if we know exactly where we are now.” Karl decided, forgetting that Cara was already in badger form, and there was no point in speaking out loud.

In response, she circled his head, then flew off toward the thin plumes of smoke in the distance that should mark a village.

Karl followed her lead, jogging along the pathway between deeper water spots in the swamp.

It was a precarious route, with most of the high spots bridged with downed trees or improvised vine bridges. But Karlʼs nose said that this route was regularly travelled by both Naga and Lizardmen.

Movement in the water caught Karlʼs attention, but the Crocolisk was swimming away, not interested in messing with him today.

Karl stopped just short of the entrance to town, where a pair of terrified looking Lizardmen were holding spears in trembling hands, trying to hold Cara at bay.

”Gentlemen, itʼs a pleasure to see you this morning.” Karl greeted them, but they only looked confused.

A glance showed him that they had no System Interface, so they must be between resurgences right now. That would explain why they were utterly terrified of a Mythic Ranked Chaos Badger.

Well, that and a healthy dose of common sense.

{Hello. Weʼre just passing through the area. Can you tell me how far it is to the lake from here, and the exact direction?} Karl tried, speaking Serpent.

The two lizardfolk only looked more suspicious at the large, furry monster speaking their language. They also didnʼt respond, but a runner did head into the centre of town, presumably to get an Elder to convince Karl to go away. So, he simply waited until an elderly Naga Shaman came out to speak to him. {Elder. Itʼs a pleasure to make your acquaintance. As I was telling your gate guards, I merely need to know exactly where I am right now so that I can head in the right direction.}

The elderly Naga woman nodded. {You are two hundred and sixty nautical miles southwest of the lake. If you follow a heading of forty-two degrees on the compass, you will reach it.}

So, they were further northeast than where they needed to be. He needed to go in the other direction to get to where the instance should be. It was just outside the swamps in his time, but it should be well outside them now.

Karl looked up at the sun to check his sense of direction, and nodded. {Thank you. That works very well to get me oriented. Please take this as a thank you for your assistance.}

Karl handed her a stalk of sweet swamp grass, a Totem Ranked magical herb that grew everywhere in Remiʼs space. It was used for cleansing potions, antitoxins, and similar potions. It was also native to this region, though supposedly rare.

The concept of rarity simply didnʼt apply within the beast spaces, as long as they put in the work to keep the plants alive.

The Naga Shaman bowed politely, and Karl smiled at the way her tongue flickered when she was excited. It reminded him of Remi, who did the same thing. Even the way she clutched the herb in both hands was the same.

Then, Karl turned and led Cara away, following the path away from town.

[That was easy.] Cara noted.

[I donʼt think that Misty was trying to get us lost. She just needed to drop us far enough from trouble that nobody noticed our entry. If the Giants think that we were lost in the swamp, it explains why we would come out in the middle of

nowhere.]

Cara frowned, the scars on her face twisting it into a scowl.

[So, thatʼs what the tactic was. Sheʼs excellent at playing Go.]

Karl laughed as Cara flew along, lost in thoughts of her game with the time dragon. Beating Misty at a strategy game was no easy task, and Karl wouldnʼt put it past the dragon to cheat if she started to lose.