The First Legendary Beast Master

Chapter 1636 Insufficient Fountain

”You think that you can defeat an Elder of the Duelling Blades Sect?” The man laughed.

Karl took out the Blade of Champions and slung it over his shoulder.

”I donʼt think I can beat you. I know that Iʼm going to beat you like a disobedient child. Now, do you want me to use the blade or the flat of my sword?”

The Acolyte stared at Karl in absolute shock. Nobody dared to mock a duelling champion like that.

”Since nobody is speaking, I will give you an advantage, a handicap when fighting the mentally handicapped. I will stay in this form instead of transforming”

The Elder was nearly frothing at the mouth in rage. But he was still holding back as the rest of his group approached.

If he was counting on them to help, he was in for a bad time.

[Heʼs in for a bad time anyhow. I want to know what he looks like as a lawn sprinkler.] Rae corrected.

”Hey Mark. How much of his corpse do we have to give back to be properly polite?” Karl asked.

That was the last straw for the Elder, and he [Shadow Stepped] behind Karl, only to be pulled out of the sky by a string of silk.

{Look at what Iʼve got. Oh, youʼre going to be so pretty as a lawn sprinkler.}

The screams of the Acolyte drowned out the startled gurgling that the Elder made when Rae speared him with hundreds of needles of hardened spider silk. Rae pulled them back out, and every artery in the manʼs body sprayed blood for half a second before a regeneration skill closed the small holes.

{Disappointing. I am going to have to make bigger holes in you.}

The Elder stared up at the psychopathic spider for half a second, then fled. Shadow Step was his preferred skill, but Rae knew that one better than anyone, and she was gone before the afterimage of the Elder had even faded.

Karl turned to the Acolyte. ”Now, did you want to give it a go with your friends? Or are you going to look for your Elder? Because I can assure you that if you donʼt rescue him soon, sheʼs going to kill him in a most horrible way!”

Cara laughed at the understatement.

Even if they showed up to rescue their Elder, he was going to die a most horrific death. The only difference was that they would join him.

”You will not leave here!” The Acolyte shouted, before his insult was cut off in the middle by Cara casting a [Chaos Vortex] on his head.

The man died in the middle of a sentence, minus his head, while a very confused and disappointed Mark stared at the corpse with an axe in both hands.

”All raged up with nothing to kill,” his brother Nate joked from somewhere in the trees.

Indeed, the Berserker had thought that it would be a fight, so he had activated [Rage] and now he was all worked up with nothing to fight.

”Is Lady Rae going to be alright?” The Ninja asked, after realizing that the other Acolytes had turned to follow the Elder.

”Sheʼs fine. Sheʼs already done, and on her way back. As it turns out, humans donʼt have enough blood for what she wanted to do, and forcing water into them to turn them into a fountain is impractical.”

The Berserker smiled. ”I will keep that in mind for later. You should likely have her leave the body behind, it causes problems if you permanently kill someoneʼs Elder.”

Karl laughed. ”Theyʼre not going to be happy either way, considering the state that they are getting their Elder back in.

However, I donʼt think that they are going to come to the Clan Leader to protest.”

Mark grumbled in annoyance as [Rage] faded, and his adrenaline levels normalized.

”Alright, letʼs go to the Earth Crystal cave anyhow. Let them sort out their issues, and we will go take a look and see if there is anything left.

The crystals grow back slowly, so there might be something to find that hasnʼt been picked clean by other visitors.”

Rae snuck back into the group, remaining in stealth until she was two hundred metres away, and then returning to her space. That was close to the maximum distance for the skill, but it seemed like it should be far enough for most

purposes.

She had never figured out how to open portals, but she could move to the Tiny World easily enough.

The only issue was: She could only exit where it was or where Karl was.

An oversight in the design, in her opinion.

A bellow of rage let them all know that someone had found the Elder, and that Raeʼs hard work had not gone unnoticed. Which meant that it was time to get a move on and explore the cave, where the lingering magic would help disguise their presence from anyone who might come looking for them.

Nate came out of hiding to lead the way, as Mark still needed a few minutes before he was thinking clearly again.

”The cave is only a few more kilometres from here. Happy coincidence as it were. Most of the time itʼs not actually used as a treasure spot, but somewhere to get out of the rain.

The cave is set into a bit of a hill, and runs deep underground, with a small spring in one of the branches that feeds from the groundwater and runs off

somewhere.

So, no matter how bad of shape youʼre in, there is shelter and water, in a cave system deep enough that the temperature is comfortable and stable all year

round.

Never too hot, never too cold.

If youʼre exploring the region in the future, keep it in mind.

Now, most of the time, anyone you find there will also be there to rest. But you do have to watch out for hostiles, and if youʼre actively being chased, they will

likely know all three exits to the complex.

Itʼs a pretty popular place, all things considered.”

To Karl, that sounded like it was both the safest place to rest for a night and the best laid trap for anyone who wanted to surround a group of adventurers.