As the day wore down, the group found themselves at the far side of the region, much too far to work their way back to base before dark. That was almost certainly a deliberate effort on the part of the Captain, but nobody in the unit really minded.
They had taken six Ascended and a Commander Rank trophy today, and if Hawk’s scouting was right, there was a chance to get two more Commander Rank monsters in the morning.
Without Karl’s team, that would never happen for them, but it would be a potent reminder of the dangers of an incompetent leader when they brought them back to camp.
For the first time on this mission, Karl actually helped set up tents that night, one large canvas tent that was erected by tying the peak of the roof to two different trees. It had been stored in Tessa’s bag, and she hadn’t brought any poles, as she could just grow them herself, or use spears from the warriors and a length of rope, but the process was still much smoother than Karl expected.
Tie the peak, tie the corners out, and then spike the bottom of the walls to the ground.
Fortunately, everyone else had a lot of practice with this process.
Then, once it was up, Karl realized that this sleeping arrangement was much more crowded than he was used to. They had found a nice level and soft spot to set up, but they would all be packed in shoulder to shoulder inside the tent.
That sounded great for the first few minutes, until Karl realized that he was between Lotus, who insisted on being at the door, and Dana, who was possibly the world’s most restless sleeper. Tonight, they were on the ground, and the sleeping bags were zipped up and not laid out like blankets, so she wasn’t going far, but she was more active at night than she was while awake.
[Want me to just wrap her up? She sleeps so much better when she’s in a hammock.] Rae suggested, spending the night in her space, since nobody on their team had guard duty.
[I’m sure she will be fine.] Karl laughed as Dana tossed one last time, then finally fell still.
Morning came far too early the next day, and Karl activated [Refreshing Lightning] to take the stiffness out of his muscles from the uncomfortable sleeping position.
“That’s just cheating. I’m not sure why, but I feel like someone beat me up in my sleep.” Dana muttered as she packed her sleeping bag back into her gear.
Lotus laughed at her complaint. “Do we need to assign someone to keep you still while you sleep? You were tossing and turning for like an hour last night before you settled down.”
Dana shook her head. “It’s just been a strange couple of days. I should be fine tonight.”
The team gathered to eat and make their plan to check the spots that Hawk was off to scout this morning. If nothing much had changed, they should be able to get at least one or two more Ascended or higher Rank beasts in the zone before lunch. After that, it would be up to whoever called in the reports to send them to more dangerous fights.
They set out as soon as everything was packed up, and Hawk led them to their prime target of the morning, a Commander Rank Giant, with six Awakened Rank Ogres. With Alice along, they shouldn’t have too many problems with the Giant, and the regular military unit could take on six Awakened Ogres, now that they had reinforcements from the depleted unit. So, spirits were high as they moved toward the target.
[There are poachers! Kill Stealers! Evildoers!] Hawk warned.
[Calm down, what do they look like? Can they even kill steal a Commander Rank Giant from us?] Karl replied.
[The smashy ones in white. They’re stealing our Giant.] Hawk complained.
“I think there is a church security team already on site. Hawk just warned me that someone is trying to steal our kill.” Karl warned the Captain.
The older Elite’s face went grim, and he motioned for the team to increase their speed.
If the church had believed the Base Commander, that team wouldn’t be strong enough to deal with the Giant, and if they had, it was better that he was right there when it died, just in case the Base Commander had called in a favour.
Thor happily crashed through the undergrowth as he chased Karl and the Captain through the woods, so when they arrived at the battle in progress, The Church Guard split to face them as if they were a threat.
“The beasts are with me.” Karl called as he chased Thor into the crowd of Ogres accompanying the Giant.
The Lightning Cerro sent one flying into the air, where it was intercepted by Rae’s Golems, which seemed to appear out of nowhere.
The spider had chosen to sit this battle out and remain in her nest, but the Golems were dispatched to fight in her place. It was just Awakened Ogres, if they got into it with the Commander, she would get out of bed.
As annoyed as he was with her slacking, Karl had to admit that she had a point. This fight was hardly worth getting out of bed for, and if the Church Guard wasn’t in the way, Thor would have charged right through it to the real fight.
The Golems and the Mages were working together to eliminate the Ogres, and Karl found himself just leisurely walking through the battlefield up to the High Priest, who had turned to greet him.
“Are you the team leader of this expedition?” The old man asked.
“No, High Priest. I am Ascended Elite Karl, the frontline warrior for the group. We have Commander Alice and a military Captain with us as the team leaders.”
The man nodded, and gestured toward the Giant. “Care to lend a hand?”
Karl smiled and focused a [Shred] attack to tear apart the armoured plating on the Giant’s back.
Then the Spider Golems moved in with their piercing forelegs and began to repeatedly stab through the hole, while Karl attacked the backs of the Giant’s knees.
The massive warrior couldn’t turn around, the Church Guard had him occupied from the front, so the attack on the legs went completely unnoticed until it was too late, and the beast was falling.
With a running leap and a massive overhead chop, Karl removed the head from the severely injured Giant’s shoulders, sending it rolling across the ground to stop at the High Priest’s feet.
Another wonderful “Just as Planned” moment that Karl wished he could take credit for.
In the distance, Alice clapped as she walked across the battlefield.
Unlike Karl, who had superhuman strength, enhanced by not one but two Ascended Rank magical items, she was forced to walk under her own power, which meant Karl and Thor had left her and the back of the column clear out of sight when they charged into battle.
She hadn’t even known that there were Church Guards here until she had seen them, she was too far away to hear his warning to the Captain.
Alice and the Captain joined Karl at the fallen Giant, where the Church Guard were giving Karl somewhat reverent looks.
“Showoff.” The Captain muttered when he walked up, which made the High Priest laugh.
“He’s an enthusiastic one, for certain. I don’t reckon that I’ve ever seen Spiders as Golems before, though. Odd choice.” The old man replied.
“Strange to see them summoned by a warrior as well.” One of the Church Guards added.
That made the old man pause and do a double take at Karl. The Guard had a valid point there. Warriors didn’t summon golems.
“I’m a Beast Master, not a Warrior. The Golems are summoned by one of my Companions.” Karl explained.
Thor took that opportunity to come over and get Alice to scratch his head in that good spot just between his eyes. It was his favourite trick to calm tensions, and it had the added benefit of having his head rubbed.
A win-win situation, really.
“Well, we can say for certain that there are Commander Rank threats in the area, and that they were not accounted for in the scouting reports. How long has your team been in the area?” The High Priest asked.
The Commander frowned. “We just got in yesterday. It was a bit of a disaster, there is an official report filed already.”
The old man nodded. “Oh, you’re that team. Well, this saves us some time. Our Guards will be with you for the remainder of the day. See if you can’t find more high-level threats, and they will help eliminate them.”