The First Legendary Beast Master novel Chapter 288

Chapter 288 And Then There Were Ten

The trip to the cave took longer than Karl had expected, as the other group was on foot, but they still managed to make it there before dark, and got Remi to use a [Blizzard] to hide their tracks.

"That's some serious paranoia you have, you know that, right?" The other warrior in Doug's group asked.

"The Frost Giants are out here hunting for whoever blew up their Holy Relic, and given that we're the ones who did it, I thought it might be better if nothing could track us back to our sleeping spot.

But you will like this place, it's an old Dwarven Village, deep in the mountains, and it's got all the creature comforts. Or will once we have Rae set up a second fort with hammocks for you all." Karl explained.

Tori smiled. The hammocks were a wonderful thing.

Her mind briefly went to the muscled physiques of the men in her group, then she shook her head, dispelling those notions. She was here to work, and after that last fiasco, she had learned her lesson about leading her group members on.

No more flirting to get favourable treatment, it wasn't worth it.

This time, she was going to prove to a group that didn't know about her past indiscretions that she was truly worthy of her place on the team, and that she had the skills to make a name for herself as a combat Elite.

As they got settled in, Rae started to work, building up a second tent in the town for the second group, again arrayed around a pillar using Spider Silk at the Commander Rank anchored to the floor and wrapped around the stone pillar as the structure.

As they relaxed, the warrior, whose name Karl had learned was Harry Kim, began to dig through his pack for a dinner ration. The clerics burst into laughter, and the warrior stopped, confused as to what was so funny. It was definitely dinner time, and they might as well start cooking before it got dark.

Doug explained with a grand gesture at the two Priestesses. "We have not one, not two, but three clerics here, including a High Priest, who can all use advanced food creation spells. There will be no eating lousy ration packs in this camp. In fact, you might eat better here than you do at home."

Harry smiled and put the ration pack away. "Now that is good news. Me and Lao Tie, we're not used to eating ration packs, it would likely mess up our digestion for months. I eat almost all my meals at the office cafeteria, since they're free, and I only recently got the raise for my promotion to Ascended."

The High Priest chuckled and ran his fingers through his short beard. "It has been a season for promotions. I just made High Priest, Commander Karl was promoted in the last few months, Dana made Ascended recently as well. With you, that's almost half the group that has made a milestone right before the war."

Ophelia chuckled and raised her hand. "I made Ascended two weeks before we left, but I was only officially promoted at the end of term exams the next week."

Harry laughed. "I'm not sure if that makes me feel better or worse. Usually, the Ascended members are pencil pushers with a lot of involuntary experience, not promising students."

The ranger joined in the laughter and shook his head. "If I didn't know better, I would say that half of you were still in the second year. And before we get too far, my full name is Lao Tie, but please call me Ty."

"Well, I can say for certain that you are wrong, but not for the reason that you think." Doug joked.

Karl nodded. "Ophelia is in the second year, but Dana is in the first year."

Ty gave her an assessing look that narrowed, his black eyes almost looked closed. "First year and Ascended? What the hell were they thinking, even letting you out of the Academy, much less to a forward scouting team?"

Now both the MacKenzie brothers, and all of Karl's team, were laughing.