Karl turned Thor to meet up with the next farm that was being attacked by the Sand Yeti. This group didn’t have a Drake with it, which should make it easier for the locals to deal with. Not that it would be easy for the Minotaur farmers to deal with over a dozen of the creatures, assuming they appeared in the same size of group as his team had been fighting earlier.
“These ones are weaker. Lower Ascended.” Hawk noted as they got close.
A full-grown Minotaur was usually a Commander, so there was a chance that even a married couple could deal with the group, though it would be incredibly dangerous.
The farmers were holding their own, and Karl saw five adults in battle, all Commanders. That would be enough to deal with the Sand Yeti on their own, but when they got close, he let Ophelia, Dana and the Naga Warriors go fight while he pretended to drive the wagon.
Thor didn’t need directions like that, but it was easier to pretend than to explain.
The four additions were able to quickly overcome the Sand Yeti warriors, and Karl noticed that the Naga Warriors were getting better with their use of [Tsunami].
They had learned to create it with a downward strike of the sword, sending a narrow vertical arc of water racing toward the target for a much more concentrated and energy-efficient strike than the wide version.
The Yeti were not particularly intelligent creatures, and they were mindlessly charging at the farmers without any sort of coordination, far from the level of threat that the groups led by Drakes had managed.
Ophelia didn’t transform, she just hacked into the Sand Yeti with her axes, while Dana attacked from above, so she could see over the defenders.
Compared to the others, she was tiny. Ophelia could use [Berserk Terror] when she was enraged to increase her size and power without Karl’s assistance. That made her larger than the Minotaurs and the Sand Yeti, while the Naga Warriors were not as thick, but their body length let them fight at an equal height to the others.
Their combat style was much more three-dimensional than most. They had no problem stretching out to attack from below, or raising to let their upper arms attack from above. Any target would have trouble dealing with four blades at once, and the more that they practised, the more skilled that they were becoming.
With their combined efforts, all the attackers were dead by the time that Karl pulled up to the farm house.
“Do you need any healing? I have Dragon Clerics with me.” He called over to the farmers.
The bull headed grandfather of the family snorted in what sounded like annoyance, then gestured to the house.
“If they don’t mind helping our kind, we do have injured.” He agreed.
Lotus hopped down from the wagon to take her turn at healing, and Cara poked at the mental link with Karl.
[Tell her to try to polish their horns. I want to know what they look like when they are shiny.]
[Later. Let us heal them and get them to calm down before we try to get them to agree to let Lotus groom them.]
The presence of the Nature Cleric seemed to set them at ease. Lotus was possibly the least threatening person that Karl had ever met, and when she came in with an area healing spell active, it gave everyone a warm, welcoming feeling.
“What are you doing so far off the track, merchant?” The oldest of the farmers asked.
“This nonsense is happening all over the region, and we got a report that the route along the river, to bypass the battles at Berwickham, is even worse. The Sand Yeti are usually accompanied by Copper Drakes, who give them organizational skills. Between that and the opportunistic ones looking to either kill the drakes or the merchants who might have valuables, this way is safer. It’s not much of a trade route, but I’ll try to make a go of it as I head east.” Karl explained.
“Well, if you can trade with the remote farms all the way through, you might do alright. What do you have for trade items?”
“We’ve got some Minotaur tools, the sort that double as weapons for the farmers.” Karl offered.
The Minotaur nodded. “Do you want more of them to sell? We’ve got lots of steel here, but it’s rare further into the savanna.”
Karl shrugged. “I think that we have room for some extra gear. What do you have for sale?”
“We get numerous requests for the sickle spear, or quality shovels. Grain and grass crops are the majority of the roughage grown around here, but we also do root vegetables.
Sickles are essential for cutting wheat and hay, so we’re carrying them for most of the year. Shovels are just generally good weapons. So, we make some with serrated edges for dealing with thick hides and leather armour.”
That sounded like an innovative way to make a dual-purpose tool, even if you would have to sharpen the sides regularly with use. But Karl suspected that the sharpness was secondary when you were using the shovel as an axe.
Minotaurs were strong, and a shovel head had a decent bit of weight to it, so it would make an acceptable axe in an emergency.
Karl turned to Tessa, who gave him a thumbs up from the wagon. They didn’t have too many of either, so they could afford to buy more here. The Minotaurs also had a crafting method that made Common Grade magical items out of their weapons, and she wanted to study that.
If it was something that the church could do, the Red Dragon Clerics could make good use of it when a conscription happened on short notice. Teaching conscripts to use anything but a spear was difficult, and even their spear skills were questionable. However, handing them a shovel shaped axe should be more familiar.
It had surely been tried in the past, and she had seen more than one pitchfork used in combat before, but it might become more commonplace if they had better quality tools already in hand.
The farmer sent one of the younger girls to go get their goods, and she came running back with a wheelbarrow full of them a minute later.
“This is what we have stockpiled. We haven’t had a lot of spare time to make tools this year, but it should be enough.”
Karl did the quick math and set out the money. Minotaurs weren’t hard negotiators from what he had seen. They had a more communal mentality, and looked for the price that was best for everyone. So, offering them a fair price at the start actually saved time, and didn’t cost you any extra.
The farmer nodded as he did the same math Karl had.
The little girl counted coins on her fingers and looked up at the elder Minotaur.
“Is that a good price, grandpa?” She asked.
“It is two thirds of the market price. That is a good price from a merchant, who has to carry them and find a buyer. It will be enough to cover all the supplies we ordered this spring.” The older man replied.
The little girl smiled and carefully put the coins in a bag before running inside with the bag held proudly in front of her.
“Cute kid. Here, I have a couple extra healing potions, just in case you have more monster trouble.”
Remi passed Karl the potions from her space. She had been busy making these, and she was getting better at them. They still lost some effectiveness compared to directly using the skill, but she had mixed some medicinal herbs in them from her swamp, and it was getting closer to full power.
The old Minotaur smiled as he carefully put the potions in a straw lined wooden chest.
“If you’re certain, I won’t say no to your generosity. Emergency healing supplies are hard to buy, but not many merchants have clerics with them.”
Lotus giggled from inside the farm house, and Karl smiled.
“They’re actually not made by the clerics. They’re made by a Naga Queen friend of mine. They’re Shaman healing magic.”
The Minotaur’s smile got even larger. “Oh, that is a shock. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a Naga Shaman, much less a Shaman Queen. Even those Noble Warriors are a rarity outside their southern swamps. But if you’re headed east, there will be Lizardmen among the nomadic tribes. They are the closest thing to permanent residents that you’ll find east of the Minotaur farms.
Arrogant bastards they are.
Lizards and Minotaur don’t get along all that well, but with Dragon Clerics and Naga they should be easier for you to talk to.”
