[We have a challenger! Quick, I need more loot. Boss, toss some trash items into my space.] Cara demanded.
[What in the seven hells are you doing now? Don’t taunt the teachers.]
[I would never do something so low and cowardly. The teachers called for reinforcements. Cast a barrier on me, will you? Ha! nullify!]
Those must be the response team that the inquisitor called, as Karl could hear chaos over the radio headset that the man had put on.
The Inquisitor’s frown had turned to a sharp glare at Karl, then to resignation, and finally to a faintly amused smile.
“Man, am I glad I don’t have to write this report.” The Inquisitor muttered.
“That bad?” He nodded. “Would you want to tell your boss that your target dropped their barrier to give your team leader a wedgie, then gave a giant strength ring to a preschooler, before running away with a Nature Priestess on her back?”
“Not Lotus, I hope?” Karl asked.
“No, one from the response team. They apparently thought that they could pin the suspect, but they have now been abducted by a monster that all the children think is a funny-looking dog running loose in the park.”
[And I’m out of loot.] Cara announced as she returned to her space, breathing heavily from laughter and exertion.
The chaos continued over the radio for a few more minutes as the security team had to convince a group of schoolkids to turn over the magical items they were given, and deal with the fact that some of them had actually awakened a Class early.
A security guard ran in a few minutes later, panting for breath. “Sir, we have lost the target. I regret to inform you that there is a Royal Rank Winged Void Badger loose in the city.” The Inquisitor patted him on the shoulder. “Relax, son. The Beast Master took care of it, and the troublemaker has been given a time-out. How bad is the damage?”
The soldier sighed and shook his head. “We have three confirmed class awakenings in the middle school section, ten more probable class awakenings, four aggressive preschoolers with Giant Strength that we left to the Red Dragon Clerics, and a few bruised egos.
No major injuries, unless Jill is injured, wherever she went.”
Karl frowned. “Is Jill your nature priestess?”
The guard nodded. “I take it that the agent of chaos is your bonded pet?”
[I’m gonna punch him in the face.]
“Partner. She is one of my bonded partners. Sorry for the trouble, she gets quite excited about new projects, and she wanted to give all the kids a gift to make up for all the birthday gifts they missed.”
“Great, and now we have to feel bad for taking the presents away. I suppose that they can keep most of them, but the dangerous items will need to be collected.” The guard sighed.
Karl was a Monarch, and even if he was a little eccentric, nobody actually got hurt, so the worst that would happen was that he got yelled at for a while.
“What did she give them? I thought it was all just random stuff from my inventory?” Karl asked.
“Yes, that’s the issue, isn’t it? It’s just random stuff from your Monarch Rank Inventory. Most of it is magical gemstones, a few random potions, and food. But there are some magic items as well, including a number of Giant Strength items.
The Awakened Classes are a minor issue, and not my problem. But some of the kids were not entirely human, and the influx of power has had unexpected results.”
“Do you want me to go sort it out? We’re nearly done here. The test is finished, and we’ve proven the secondary theory that we were after as well. So, I can go over to the school and calm the situation.” Karl offered.
The Inquisitor smirked. “You know, I think I would like to see this. Yes, let’s see how you calm down an entire middle school.”
In his mind, Cara laughed. She had given a bunch of the kids juice that Remi had made to increase energy. Nobody was getting them to calm down for hours.
[You know, we’re going to get a bad reputation in the city after this.]
[Only with annoying people. The kids already love us, and so do the soldiers. I heard that they will let Thor and Remi give stuff to the other cadets to see if they can awaken a Class.]
Karl left the university researchers and the representatives from the military and government behind as he followed the Inquisitor out of the animal husbandry section of the university, waiting for the right moment to ask his question.
“Inquisitor, how bad have the casualties been with the Giants that we are trying so hard to find new ways to awaken Elites? I was under the impression that the government was happy with the current arrangement.” He asked quietly.
The Inquisitor sighed and shook his head. “About twenty percent since the war started. If they keep it up another year at the current rate, we will have lost half our Elites just trying to defend the nation, and we’ve already fallen back in many sections, giving up the more difficult to defend regions to the Giants.”
Karl frowned. “What the hell are they after? They can’t be doing this without a reason.”
The Inquisitor shrugged. “For a few weeks, they stopped pushing and sent invasion teams towards all of the newly opened dungeons. But now they’re back at the border in full force and pushing harder than ever.
Whatever they’re after, the official word is that it is likely to be system related. The current motivational videos say that they are jealous of the Elites and our power, so they’re trying to stop us before we grow.”
[The Titan Gods can’t use the usual Relics to awaken their people. They need the fancy things.] Cara suggested.
[The system stones or the lost fragment of the World Dragon Scale that was supposed to be buried on this continent.] Karl agreed.
“You know something.” The Inquisitor stated.
“Indeed. But that’s between me and the Archbishop. I’m afraid I’m not free to explain.”
Telling the Inquisitor that the Giants were likely to overrun the nation trying to find a lost Relic that could awaken the System in their people now that everyone else was getting in on the fun wouldn’t do the haggard looking man any good.