For two entire days, the group rested in the Dwarven Village ruins, resting and rebuilding their strength. But Karl wasn’t slacking. No, he was working hard to spread the energy from the focal points in his beast spaces and then rebuild them. The process of spreading the energy smoothly took an entire day, and then it would likely take him weeks to rebuild it back to its new peak level, but he could feel the difference in the spaces after putting it off for that long.
With three Commander Rank beasts, the energy was flowing much more smoothly through his body after the process was completed, and he had an easier time activating his skills. The Royal Rank [Flaming Body] skill was becoming much more effective, though still limited by his own capacity.
It was more efficient than the Commander Rank version for the amount of mana used, but because his cap for energy usage was lower, he still couldn’t exert the maximum amount of power that someone like Prince Corbin could have. By Karl’s best estimate, it was close to twice as strong as it would have been at Commander Rank, though.
The jump between the two ranks was a large one, and while Karl didn’t quite understand the difference yet, the feeling of power from [Flaming Body] was definitely not the same as it was from the other skills he could use.
If it had been [Offensive Adaptation] that Rae had managed to advance, he might have a more detailed understanding, with two skills to compare, but it was her Golems that had advanced first.
Of course, if it had been Offensive Adaptation that advanced first, the amount of damage that he was doing at the Commander Rank might have made even the Red Dragon of War blush. That skill was truly overpowered to begin with, and having it a full Rank higher than the user would just be disgustingly effective.
They had no way of knowing what was going on outside, other than the silence when they went to sit by the door and listen for movement. There was nothing close enough for their senses to pick up on the first day, so on the second day, Karl sent Hawk out to scout in the morning.
[There are still plenty of Frost Giants in the area, searching for us, I guess. They’re big mad about something, and it has to be us blowing up their rock.] Hawk explained as he returned to rest in his space for the remainder of the day.
With the energy stabilized in an even layer on the third day, and the new focuses forming properly, Karl sent Hawk out to scout again, updating them on the situation.
[Not so many Frost Giants as yesterday, but still plenty of Frost Giants to keep us busy all day. There are humans there now too, fighting.] Hawk informed them during his dawn scouting mission.
“It sounds like it’s time to go. There are other human teams outside now, fighting with the Frost Giants that are looking for us. Well, they likely don’t know it’s us they’re looking for, but they’re looking for the relic from the crater.” Karl explained.
“But it blew up.” Tori reminded him.
Dana and Tessa both gave Karl matching suspicious looks.
“It did blow up, didn’t it?” Tessa asked.
Karl took Remi and her new lucky statue out of her space to show to the others.
“I think that this is what they’re looking for.” He explained.
“A statue of the Allmother? I mean, she’s the primary Goddess of Shamanistic magic, but what does that have to do with the Frost Giants?” Lotus asked.
Tessa shrugged. “No idea. But if it was in the crater, then it’s not just a statue. Where did you find it?”
Remi wrapped protectively around her statue, in case someone tried to take it from her.
Karl smiled and stroked the Spirit Snake’s back as he answered. “They were using it as the focus for the circle that was summoning more Frost Giants. I stole it to break the spell.”
Tessa nodded in understanding. “And then the crumbling spell destabilized the Frost Stone, and everything blew up. Alright, I see what happened now. Tuck that away again, and don’t let it come out. It should be good for Remi, but the Frost Giants will sense its magic if they’re close.”
Remi quickly vanished into her space to protect her statue, while the clerics tried not to laugh. The little Spirit Snake was growing quickly, but nobody had noticed because it was so cold that she never came out of her space. Or at least she never came far enough out that they could see her.
“Are we bringing our packs? Or leaving them here in camp?” Tori asked as she glared at the heavy bag.
Unlike the others, the mages couldn’t use the rings of Giant Strength, so they were working with basic human stats, and carrying their packs all day was tiring.
“You and Dana can sling them on Thor’s back. It should help mobility, and he won’t mind a pair of saddlebags if Rae helps us tie them on nicely.” Karl suggested.
Rae happily made a harness for the packs, and for the riders to hang on to while they sat on top of Thor’s new white fur cape. It was warm, it helped him hide, and it had a hood. The hood was the best part, in Thor’s estimation. Tessa had cut holes for his upper horns, so it would stay in place when he moved his head, and it kept his cranial ridge warm without blocking his eyes.
The harness kept it securely in place, with the backpacks hanging at his rear hips and the riders in front of that, with Tessa sitting at the base of his neck, where she could more easily attack their targets.
“We need to get you a lance.” Karl decided, as the riders took their places.
Lotus was back in her spot on Rae again, so they could ambush from the side without the Bloodbath Spider losing her pocket healer. That put both mages on Thor’s back, but they would climb down as soon as the fighting started, as they weren’t physically adept enough to stay on a bucking Lightning Cerro during battle.
Karl led them down a path toward the closest group of human scouts, who were about to end up in combat with a Frost Giant hunting team, keeping the pace to a moderate jog, so that neither of the beasts was tired when they found their fight.
[Can I engage?] Hawk asked, after relaying that the Frost Giants were about to reach the human scouts.
[Go ahead, just don’t get yourself attacked.]
The fireballs made it easier to track the scout from the ground, and Karl adjusted their route to intercept the Frost Giants.
The scout team had slowed their advance, wary of the insane Dragon Hawk, allowing Karl and the others to make it to the hunting team first.
It was just five Ascended Frost Giants with spears, no fancy armour or magical weapons, but they had a large hound of some sort with them, who was sniffing at the ground, searching for something.
It wasn’t them, as the hound didn’t make any signal that it had recognized them, but if they were tracking every group who had been near the crater, they would get to him eventually.
Karl took out the dog handler with an arrow, while the others fell to Hawk’s fireballs, leaving a very shocked scout group standing fifty metres to their right, unsure as to what they should be doing now.
“Good morning everyone. I don’t suppose that you have a working radio, do you?” Karl asked.
The team leader smiled, and gestured for someone to bring one forward.
“We do have a spare. All the teams do, now that we’ve learned the trick. The only ones that blew up were the radios that were in use at the time, the ones in storage with the batteries removed were fine. It took a few hours to realize that with all the chaos, and by then the scouts who had been near the crater had all dispersed again.” He explained.
“Got it. Keep the battery removed from the spare radio when we get one. Hopefully, that sort of thing won’t happen again any time soon, but you never know.” Karl agreed.
“You should call in soon, Commander. The General would like to have a few words with you, and he is requesting that you return to the base.” The scout chuckled as Karl tucked the radio in his pack and put the earbud in.
“I thought that might be the case, especially after two days of recovery time. Alright, I will head for the base this afternoon, so I have time to make it back to my camp before dark.”