The First Legendary Beast Master

Chapter 1422 Pave Their Way

Karl set a fire for them to cook on, and a pot of oatmeal started their day out strong.

They didnʼt have a huge amount of ground to cover to get to the next site, not more than twenty kilometres by Karlʼs estimate. But with this group, that would take all day, not most of an hour.

That was also where Karl had sensed the disturbance in the mana flows, and he was hoping that would lead him to the System Stones that he had been sent here to recover.

But first, he had to make them the cart.

Not a fancy thing, as a human would be pulling it. But a flat cart with an open back to casily move goods in and out of. An ox cart would be the common name for it, but Karl hadnʼt seen an ox on this entire continent that wouldnʼt smash this group into pulp.

Perhaps at this time, there might be weaker beasts, but as he remembered it, most of the land was lost to monsters, or taken over by dragons in between the resurgences, as they were the only ones with the power to control it.

The weakest of dragon kin and other humanoid species had nearly been annihilated.

Karl made the lightweight wagon with [Earth Manipulation], stronger than steel, but light enough that two common humans could lift it entirely off the ground. That way, if they got it stuck in the mud later, they could unload it and get it to higher ground.

The pilgrims happily loaded their supplies, the food and the tents, onto the wagon, which still looked mostly empty.

Karl did consider giving them more food, but if he remained for a few days after they found the location, then he would have a chance when the first batch began to run low.

They would inevitably start to thin the ration into a soup, and then to something closer to a broth. That was a basic of food shortages. But if he

loaded the wagon, they wouldnʼt panic for some time.

Not until after he was gone.

”Elder, you should ride. This long journey hasnʼt been easy on you.” One of the men suggested to the Cleric.

The old man just shook his head. ”I havenʼt felt this good in years. I will walk for today, and if I need to ride later, I will reconsider. Pulling everyoneʼs supplies is already a burden, and youʼve only had two decent meals in months.”

Both of which were in the last twelve hours. But that went without saying.

The man nodded, and took a spot at one of the arms for the wagon. A bit of cloth looped around his wrist bound it to the wagon, so he didnʼt have to rely on grip strength, and another man did the same on the other side.

That got the wagon moving easily as they walked under the morning sun, and the others took turns walking alongside the wagon, pushing from the rails or the back.

[Cara, go ahead and scout the destination for us. If itʼs promising, I want to know before nightfall.] Karl instructed.

[Got it. Give me ten minutes and Iʼll be up there. It smells promising. Kind of like violence and magic.]

That was not a smell that he could easily identify, but Karl didnʼt question her judgment.

Cara flying into the distance startled the pilgrims, but Karl simply shrugged and smiled at them.

”She needs to spread her wings and get some exercise, sheʼs a high energy sort. But she will come back when sheʼs bored or hungry.” He explained.

The Pilgrims didnʼt know a thing about Chaos Badger biology, or even just what species Cara actually was. But they also had no reason to question Karlʼs word, and most of them had grown up around domestic animals, cats and dogs. They often got hyper and needed to burn off excess energy, so it made sense.

Little did they know that Caraʼs version of burning off excess energy was napping in her space while repeatedly triggering [Chaotic Foresight] to see what she could find.

They just continued along the path, stopping periodically to pray.

[Oh, I found a spicy portal. I think it might be a good one, but itʼs not a dungeon. Trial Instance maybe? Might be the place weʼre looking for.] Cara announced when she reached the source of the anomaly.

[Is there anyone else in the area?] Karl asked.

[Yep. Lots of someones. There are Orcs here, and Giants, and one angry bluc dragon.]

That should be the right place then, but it appeared that they hadnʼt gotten there first. Instead, they were going to have to argue about their right to access the place with the Giants.

If they had only run into Orcs, it would be fine. They could be negotiated with. All you had to do was make it a challenge, and they would immediately agree that whoever could do it best was the one who deserved it.

Such reasonable people.

The real issue was that these pilgrims were not going to believe him that it wasnʼt safe to go there until they had seen it with their own eyes. The mental word of a Chaos Badger twenty kilometres away was not going to cut it.

They continued to walk, and Karl waited for updates from Cara.

[I think that the Giants and Orcs are going to fight over the right to access the whatever this is. Itʼs still locked, they canʼt get in. But they think itʼs opening

soon.]

Karl sighed. [Alright, Iʼm on my way.]

”My friends, I will run ahead for a bit. The badger has detected some trouble, but I will try to clear the way to the holy site for you. But before I go, in case I get delayed and donʼt catch up with you again, take this.” Karl announced. Then, he loaded the wagon with bags of beans and rice, oatmeal, and one of dried fruits, which was about the extent of his [Create Food] spellʼs abilities.

He needed to work on that.