Karl released arrow after arrow, clearing the area of boars with ease, as he picked the closest targets first and worked his way into the distance.
“So, you could fight with a bow as well? That is wonderful. But where did all these powerful friends come from? I’ve never seen a group of intelligent beasts like this outside of their own nation.” The Satyr asked.
“They are with me. It’s a bit hard to explain, but I can call on their assistance when I need it.” Karl replied vaguely.
After the wall of flaming vortexes, and Hawk evolving right next to the farm, there was no way that they were going to be able to hide the fact that he had at least a few beasts with him, but Karl didn’t want the locals to panic.
Of course, the Satyr likely wanted to know where the Lamia had come from as well, but that discussion could wait. Karl didn’t know if he was going to have to grab his team and bolt in the next hour or two, especially now that the Oracle had been dumped in their laps by a furious Emperor whose pet Haint had run away.
The bow had a range of nearly two hundred metres, but in a matter of only a few minutes, there were no more boars to be found anywhere within that range. The overnight fight was coming to an end as the sun rose fully into the sky, and the second day’s damages were becoming visible in the distance.
It wasn’t as bad as the first morning. The invaders had mostly ignored the empty houses, and the ones that had smelled good enough to pillage had been attacked the first night.
So, while there was extensive damage to the farms and crops, it wasn’t as severe as many had feared.
As the fighting died down, the Oracle made his way back to Karl, who had called everyone but Thor, Hawk, and the bodyguards back into his space.
They could remain out for now, as nobody was going to forget that Hawk existed. Plus, he was huge now, and flying was an entirely different experience when he could ride on much larger wind currents and updrafts.
Before, he could soar on the wind, but now, he could simply tweak his feathers and float in the sky. His new body weighed very little, and his [Ghostfire Body] skill allowed him to fly without using his feathers at all.
Like so many magical beasts, he could now use his magic to keep himself aloft, and not just his body.
[I may have to abandon mice as food. But now, regular sized boars are mouse sized bites. Is this what they call an existential crisis?] Hawk pondered as he lazily floated above the fields.
[Is it like growing up and finding out that your favourite little rodents that struggled so prettily in your web are no longer a satisfying meal? I completely understand. It’s a tragic loss, but there will be others that put on as good of a show.] Rae consoled him.
That cheered Hawk up at least a little bit. Even the Giant Boars were now small enough to be valid hunting targets for the massive Ghostfire Thunderbird body that Hawk had evolved into, but deep in his instincts, there was still that urge to go for the small and defenceless rodents.
[Did you learn any new tricks along with your new flames?] Karl asked as Hawk surveyed the aftermath of the second spawn.
[I think so, but it feels like they’re not ready yet. Maybe after I nap.]
Hawk wasn’t concerned. Fire was the best element anyhow, and he was already big with better than ever flames. The rest could wait for later.
Hawk’s circling form was a beacon to other defending groups. He was large enough to be seen from many kilometres away, and from a distance, he looked like an Ice Phoenix, with his blue flaming feathers.
The Phoenix was considered good luck, and they were as intelligent as Dragons, even if they could only speak bird. So, if their position was looking untenable, or just not worth defending anymore, they started to make their way towards the farm that had a Phoenix protecting it.
Some hesitated when they were close enough to see that it was some form of Thunderbird, which was also an intelligent beast, but not nearly as auspicious as the Phoenix, but Hawk was obviously guarding an area, continually circling overhead while only sporadically diving to attack boars that got too close.
Every time he rose back up with a snack, more of the Minotaurs began to consider heading in his direction, as they could hear the force, and see the campfire in the yard, showing that Hawk had not eaten the defenders.
Not that a Thunderbird would hang around after destroying a farmyard. They weren’t a scavenger bird.
In the morning calm, Lotus had enlisted the help of the children from the farm families to scrub and polish Thor’s scales. He needed a good rub down, and the Cerro was feeling depressed now that even Hawk had gotten a great opportunity to advance just handed to him.
All the others got powerful so easily, but he was already struggling, even with his Holy Pond.
Karl knew that Rae was likely to run into the same issue soon, but likely not until after she either reached the bottleneck or advanced to Monarch Rank. She had a few skills that would scale well, and that would give her a better chance at breaking the bottleneck.
Eternal Lightning probably had the potential to go higher, but Thor’s body didn’t. But that could be a project for him and Remi.
[If you go through the ingredients that we have, and make a list of things that we still need to make resources that will help Thor, I can try to find them. I think that all he needs is just a bit higher quality snacks to advance.] Karl offered.
Thor perked up a little, both at the faint hope of advancement, and at the gentle hands of the children scrubbing down his scales with coarse burlap cloths. Fortunately, his scales weren’t as harsh as they had been at first.
They were still rough, but they didn’t tear through cloth anymore unless you put excessive pressure on them.
Having something to focus on helped, and Karl knew the others wouldn’t let their resident best boy remain sad for long.