The General tapped a spot on the map, further from Golden Dragon Nation territory, and almost directly in front of this offensive line.
“That is the target I would like for you to inspect. It’s too far to move the main line, as being that far forward would let them sneak behind us. But I think there is something there. A relic, or some other powerful magic.
The Giants keep moving past that point, and our scouts suspect that they are gaining some benefit from it, but they haven’t been able to get close enough to verify. We’re not the priority line, just the B team Elites with a bit of artillery on a quiet mountain pass, so we don’t have Commanders to spare for scouting teams.” He explained.
Tessa smirked as she got some sort of Divine Inspiration that made her eyes glow red.
“Well, for a day at least, you’ve got us. We’ve only got one proper Commander with us, but we’ve got three Commander Rank beasts as well, and that makes the fights a bit more even.” She announced.
“If the War Dragon thinks it’s a good idea, then we really have to go see what they’re hiding out there. For all we know, it could be a massive weapons bunker. Or it could be a simple shrine to some Ice Goddess, but either way, we will take a look for you in the morning and report back.” Karl agreed.
“I appreciate it. Have you picked a spot near camp? I know better than to ask you if you need a tent.” The General chuckled.
“Yeah, the big trees to your east will do for the evening. We usually set up in one of the trees.” Karl explained.
“Why in the trees?” The General asked.
[Because I am the thing that goes bump in the night.] Rae answered in Karl’s mind.
[To engulf the silly bird in Blizzard.] Remi added.
[For better… you brat, I knew you were making the air evil on purpose.] Hawk complained.
Karl smiled as he listened to their answers. “Many reasons, but mostly it’s more comfortable to be there than on the ground, and there are fewer tree climbing enemies than walking ones.”
The General nodded in agreement. He might not know a technique to make sleeping in a tree comfortable, but if Karl did, that was fine by him. The Elites never wanted to stay in camp unless they were office sorts or out of supplies, so he wasn’t going to get offended that they wanted to sleep nearby.
“Alright, happy hunting, and I will expect your reports tomorrow when you leave the location.” The General insisted, dismissing them to get back to work.
Rae made them a nice fort in the trees, while Hawk kept a close eye on Remi, to ensure she wasn’t sneakily casting a minor blizzard spell to keep the blowing snow active around their camp. Blizzard snake was definitely untrustworthy, she must have been learning bad habits from the Frost Giants.
The worst part was, he couldn’t even throw things at her because she was just a stupid snake, and she would probably eat it. If he made her sick, Karl would be mad.
The next morning, they packed up camp, leaving the double walled fort which had served them well for the evening, and began to make their way toward the spot that the General had marked on the map.
According to Hawk’s scouting, it was hidden within a valley full of blowing snow, where he couldn’t see the ground from above, and he wasn’t going to fly down into it, in case the winds were strong enough to keep him from flying.
He was powerful, but his feathers were rather delicate, and once they were pushed out of place by extreme winds in the wrong direction, he would be forced to land.
“Hawk says that the snow is blowing too hard to see down in to the valley, so we are essentially going in blind. I will have to call him in or have him sit on someone’s pack when we enter, as the high winds will cause issues with flight.
Actually, we might have to tie Dana and Lotus to Thor and Rae, or they might blow away as well.” Karl joked.
Well, it was intended to be a joke, but when they got to the edge of the valley and felt the raging winds, it started to sound like a more practical idea.
They waited in the trees near the ridge line while they tried to make a decision, and watched as a group of Frost Giants left the area, headed to the other front.
Then, a half hour later, another group went the same way.
“Hey, don’t you think there is something odd about those Giants?” Lotus asked as she watched the second group.
Karl inspected them more closely. “One Commander, Nine Ascended. Standard group formation, the usual assortment of weapons, blades with a few axes.”
Lotus shook her head. “No, that’s not it, let’s wait here for another group. Memorize this group as well as you can, and I think it will make sense.”
Karl did, and then they waited half an hour for another group to come out.
“One Commander, nine Ascended, an assortment of weapons. The same assortment of weapons. Same outfits as well. We must have never noticed because the groups mix later, but those groups are identical.” Karl gasped.
“Exactly. That’s why we were getting so many of the same swords. Not because there’s some obsessive Frost Giant blacksmith, but because the groups are being cloned.”
Tessa’s eyes glowed red again, and Karl smiled at the War Cleric. “We’re going down soon, we won’t let your Goddess down. The group has just gone, so we should be alright to head in and start searching now. If they could spit out a group every few minutes, the border would have been long since overrun.”
Karl led the group into the blowing snow, down the ridge and into the bottom of the valley. They could only see a few metres in front of themselves, so unless they stumbled across a group accidentally, nothing would be hunting them.
The lack of visibility, even with thermal vision, made it seem like an impossible task, but once they were close to the valley floor, the storm ended, raging above their heads and revealing an entire valley full of Frost Giants.
There were hundreds of them in the area, standing around a pulsing blue pillar of crystal.
[Yes! I need the good thing. Put that shiny stone in my swamp.] Remi insisted.
[First we need to get there, and get rid of the Giants.] Karl laughed.
The groups here were the same as the last two they had watched leave. Nine Ascended for every Commander, and now that Karl could see them side by side, identical faces on the Commanders, but with different patterns painted to obscure their features.
How that had escaped everyone was a mystery, but nobody really tried to memorize Frost Giant faces.
“Oh look, a welcoming party.” Tori sighed as the Frost Giants began to turn toward the interlopers.
Tessa nodded. “Well, let’s not let them down. If anyone has a hidden secret skill, now would be the time to show it off.”
Karl quickly checked his points. 21 left. He had a variety of options available from his skill tree, he just had to make a choice.
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[Balance Skills]
50 Points [Evolution] Cause any bonded pet to evolve into a form one Rank Higher than when the skill is used. Usable once per beast, some materials may be required.
[Skill Master Rank 3 Available] 100 Points. Allows all skills to evolve to a skill one tier higher than their current tier with practice.
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[Tier 2 Skills]
10 Points [Brutality] increases the size and strength of the target beast by 10 percent per Rank (40 percent for Commander)
10 Points [Barrier] Creates a barrier around the Beast Master or selected target at the Beast Master’s current Rank.
10 Points [Bestial Regeneration] Greatly increases the target’s healing factor.
10 Points [Refresh] Eliminates fatigue for 10 minutes per Rank. (40 minutes at Commander)
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[Tier 3 Skills] [Will become passively activate on Beast Master and all active Beasts]
20 Points [Shatter] physical strikes cause vibrations through the opponent’s body that damage organs and may break bones.
20 Points [Sharpness] Slashing, Stabbing and Disintegration type abilities increase in damage by 10 percent per Rank. (40 percent at Commander)
20 Points [Crushing Blows] Blunt impact skills increase in damage by 10 percent per Rank. (Effective on damage caused by Shatter). (40 percent at Commander)
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Karl looked at the skills for a moment, and then the abundance of targets in front of them. There were definitely a few options there which would work out well for him today.