The First Legendary Beast Master

“Let’s move on and help clear the other spots as well. Most of them should be covered by now, but there is no telling if there are still Ogres roaming loose in the city at this point.” One of the Dwarven Warriors suggested.

Karl gestured south towards the closest sounds of Ogres and battle, and the Dwarf quickly led the way through the side streets.

Unlike most cities Karl had been in, the streets were winding, but not random. They were designed as defensive fortifications, so there were deliberate dead ends, and the roads all bent around the central circle, so it was easier to sneak up on invaders if you knew the layout of the city, and started at the middle.

They turned a corner and found that an Overlord Ranked Beastkin mage group was following the same tactic that Karl used, and had encircled the intersection, trapping the lone Ogre in the middle as they bombarded it with spells, then teleported out of reach when it charged them.

Rae leapt an entire city block to land on the monster’s back, and began punching holes in it as if the Ogre had no damage reduction at all.

“What sort of skill is that?” The Dwarf on Karl’s left whispered.

“Predation. She gets a larger than usual bonus from it, and it basically ignores their damage reduction.” Karl replied quietly as he took out his bow.

The Ogre wasn’t going to last long now that Rae had it on the ground and tied up, but he should at least put in a bit of effort to help.

The arrow landed in the Ogre’s neck with a heavy thunk, and the creature gurgled on blood, thoroughly defeated.

The mages cheered, and Lotus set up her healing totems, just in case there were wounded.

“Do you have someone who can resurrect?” One of the mages shouted.

“We do. Bring them here and we will help.” Lotus replied, then turned into the Tree of Life.

That would let her find any hidden wounded or dead nearby who could still be resurrected, and it would save time if they were buried under rubble. Of course, they would still be trapped under the rubble, but they could at least call for help as they were continually healed.

The mages brought out the body of a Totem Ranked Mage, as well as a half dozen more Overlords. They were likely all from the same faction or group, but the casualties today were horrendous.

Fortunately, it appeared that the losses were recent, as Lotus had them all breathing again within a few seconds, and they were working on the healing process.

That made Karl question what had been going on since they entered the trial.

“How long has it been since the battle started?” Karl asked.

“Almost an hour now.” The mage closest to him sighed, then slumped against the base of Lotus’ tree.

That was the realization that Karl and the others needed. Their forty-eight hours in the trial had been mere minutes outside. It hadn’t been days of grinding battle while they were in the trial with a handful of the city’s strongest defenders.

In hindsight, it was likely a tactical mistake to take them into the trial before the Ogres were dealt with, as if they were really gone for two days, things could have gone very poorly for the city of Banar.

But that was the last of the concerns on the Mages’ minds.

“Banar really is cursed, isn’t it? First, it was cursed with drought and famine. Then with the illusion that created undead and a false facade. Then we find out that the city lord was incompetent.

Now we have a monster spawn inside the city walls.

This can’t be a coincidence. Something has been messing with the mana flow in the region and affecting probability.” The Totem Ranked mage that had just been resurrected insisted.

The other Dwarves nodded. The odds that all that would happen to one city in rapid succession were astronomical.

Karl was about to comment, but decided not to raise new red flags while they were still fighting the Ogres.

Instead, he went with, “We will wait here until everyone is mobile again, then you can join the group as we clear the remaining Ogres. The Totem should head for the Temple, though. There is a trial there, and the Council wants all the Totems to go through before it closes.

There is a chance for a Class advancement.”

The aging mage smiled. “A class advancement, you say? Well, I can see how they would want to make sure all the Totems made it through first. Do you think they would be offended if I brought my students with me?”

Karl turned to the other Dwarves, who simply shrugged.

“There’s only one way to find out. Go ahead, there is safety in numbers, even if they make the Overlords wait until the Totems have gone through.” The Dwarven Warrior insisted.

Karl was fairly sure he was on the Council as well, but at the moment he wasn’t really concerned with making decisions that could easily be countermanded when the group reached the portal.

Karl gestured to another group, and Lotus transformed back to her natural form.

“Good luck, try not to get clubbed on your way there. Just go straight to the Temple, we have groups out hunting the remaining Ogres.” Lotus instructed.

Once they came back with improved classes, they would be more powerful and more capable, so it was better not to delay.

The next Ogre already had a pair of reinforcements, and it was nearly dead by the time that Rae [Shadow Stepped] over to deliver the coup de grâce.

The Dwarves nodded in thanks, and joined the growing army of Totems moving through the city at a run, looking for leftover Ogres.

[Turn right. There is a wounded one hiding.] Hawk instructed.

“This way. One escaped from a fight, and it’s trying to lie low. Our flying scout found it.”

The group turned to find one heavily wounded Ogre and a trail of blood leading off toward the wall. The Dwarves dealt with the wounded one as soon as they arrived, and Karl led the way down the trail of blood to see what was at the other end.

It might be a wounded Totem, or there might be more Ogres fleeing from battle.