The Mayor remained on the balcony as many people could be heard jogging toward his office, not particularly concerned, as they didn’t sense any emergency.
But the moment that the first woman came in the door and saw the children, the screaming and happy tears started.
“Lieverd, kom nu hier binnen! De kinderen zijn gevonden en gered.” She screamed out the door.
Karl could only assume that was the Elvish language because the man who came in seconds later was already smiling and crying when he arrived, and he picked up a boy to spin him in circles.
That brought a flood of motion outside, as everyone rushed out of the homes and buildings to see what was going on, or to run to the Mayor’s office to get a firsthand view of the day’s newest highlight.
When you lived in a small town, new and exciting was rare, so Karl wasn’t surprised that they would all want to be involved and not find out secondhand.
More Elves began to gather in the office, hurrying to get to the children. Karl retreated to the balcony with the Mayor while there were many tearful family reunions, and just watched in silence for a while.
Eventually, the Mayor whispered to him. “One of the merchant groups who trade with us saw the slaver caravan, and recognized the locals, so he paid off a mercenary group to recover them. But the children weren’t with them, and we feared that they were already lost.
It’s been months, more than enough time to sell them and have them shipped so far that we would never find them. I didn’t want to say anything at first, in case you were trying to ransom them back. But I should have known that a War Champion wouldn’t do that to his own Guild members.” Karl nodded. “They were taking them to the West Coast for a better price, according to the children. They were just waiting on their contact to arrive in port and robbing travellers when I came across their ambush and cleaned them out.”
“Did you get the entire group of slavers?” The Mayor asked hopefully.
“Probably not. I got all the ones that were at that camp, and all the ones at their ambush further toward the next town, but then we had a portal mage bring us here. There are likely more of them in the port city waiting for their contact, and some that just weren’t at the ambush where they were working as bandits.” Karl replied in a quiet voice that wouldn’t interrupt the reunions.
The Mayor looked tired, worn down by stress, but hopeful.
“Well, at the very least, you got all the children back. There will be no tearful parents realizing that their baby isn’t among the ones who returned.” He sighed.
[Mission Completed: Calculating Rewards] Appeared in Karl’s vision.
“Well, it looks like my work here is done. They can all go home to their families, who they weren’t expecting to see again. Especially after the adults were sold off during their journey.”
“We should reward you properly. What sort of class do you have? I don’t recognize that shade of red.” The Mayor asked.
That was the second time that someone had said that. “My Class is Beast Master. I grow my power by helping my bonded monsters grow theirs.” Karl explained.
The Mayor looked a bit confused for a few seconds, then his eyes lit up in understanding.
“Oh, you can get skills that aren’t part of the skill tree from the Monsters. That is a wonderful class.
If you want another, you have come to the right spot. There are many rare monsters in the forest with unique skills. Does it matter how powerful they are? Or does the skill adapt to your level?” He asked.
“The beasts fight alongside me, so their abilities matter. If they couldn’t keep growing, they would end up restricted from coming out in combat.”
“So, like a Ranger, you have a limited number of options, and you must choose well for them to accompany you as you level up. That makes sense. There are still suitable options. For example, the Blink Cats. They are mellow enough to be house animals, but they can reach the second advancement if given enough time, and their ability to teleport makes them a deadly predator.
Or the Wisp. They might not look like much, or really do much, but if you can bond one to you, their ability to boost magic damage is far beyond what most other species could offer.
Many of the Elven Rangers like to bond wisps for the additional damage to their archery spells and movement abilities.”
Karl wasn’t even certain that a Wisp counted as a beast for him to tame, but he could see that the Elves were very fond of them. “So, the forests here have monsters that are in the Second Advancement already?” Karl asked, instead of pondering the intricacies of Wisps.
“Not many, but there are a few to be wary of. The Moor Cats are Second Advancement, and if you’re really unlucky, the Moor Cat Matriarchs are an evolved version that can reach Totem Status, or even the Mythic Rank third advancement.
You do not want to mess with a Mythic beast, no matter how cute they are. They take a tenth of the damage you expect them to, and they are far stronger than they look.”
Karl laughed. “Well, when they’re that far ahead of me, I don’t think that the damage reduction will be my greatest concern. I likely couldn’t break their basic defences anyhow.”
The Mayor just shrugged. “I just thought that I would warn you because while the Moor Cats are four metres tall, the Moor Cat Matriarch is only a metre and a half tall, and the Nature Priests often have issues with them.”
“Because they forget that friend shaped doesn’t always mean friend.” Karl agreed.
The Elf gave a low chuckle. “You have some experience with them, then? They’re not all that common outside the Elven lands, so most humans have never met an adherent of the Green Dragon.”
Karl smiled. “They’re missing out. Not only are the Green Dragon’s followers wonderful healers, they’re almost all accomplished chefs.
When it comes to long months on the road, there is nothing more comforting than having a chef around that can make their own ingredients, even if they do have a penchant for the same rice and beans food creation spell every day.”
Someone joined in their laughter, and Karl turned to see that a young woman was waiting for them to finish talking.
She had a familiar aura of crazy, but in a contained way, that made Karl think that she was one of the Nature Clerics. That was all but confirmed when she began to speak.
“Well, we were hoping to introduce you to new foods in gratitude, but you might already know all our tricks. Will you stay for dinner anyhow?” She asked.
“Of course. I never say no to a good meal.”
As she turned to address someone else in the room, Karl noticed the information above her head. Her name was in plain white, but below it were the words “Darklight Host Guild Officer”