The First Legendary Beast Master - Chapter 997

Chapter 997: Check and Test
Thor and Tessa decided to stay in the actual tent, in case someone were to come looking for their group. But Rae also remained outside the [Tiny World], also hoping that someone came looking for them in the middle of the night.

Rae was nothing if not optimistic.

But in the middle of an army camp that had been long-established, there were no attacks, roaming monsters or traitors to bother them.

When Karl got up in the morning, everyone else was up and working on breakfast, after which the plan was to have the ladies ride on Thor to the mission location.

That gave them a chance for bonus fights, which would make the Black Dragon happy. It also gave Hawk time to scout more of the area than simply flying in a straight line would.

“I wonder just how fast Karl is now that he’s advanced? All that extra power, and the physique boost, has to have made him pretty powerful, right?” Lotus asked, waving her fork for emphasis.

Karl shrugged. “We can test it once we find something for me to fight. But I should be about half again as strong as I was before the advancement. I don’t know how that will translate to speed, which is more dependent on reflexes and muscle something.”

Lotus laughed and nodded.

It was surprising that Karl actually knew that much about anatomy to start with. Half of the Elites in the Golden Dragon Nation only knew that the body worked, not how it worked. It was the clerics that took most of the Biology and medical courses.

Thor shrugged. “We can test it here. Well, the strong part. Just jump straight up, and let yourself float when you reach the highest point.”

Karl crouched and launched himself twenty metres straight in the air. With a running start, or not going straight up, he could most certainly do better, but the power in his legs had noticeably increased.

While he was in the air, Karl took a second to scout the region around the camp, and Hawk emerged from his space to start his morning routes. If he found a good fight, more Stone Rats, or anything else of interest, he would be sure to relay the message.

Karl let himself fall, then slowed his descent just before landing.

Lotus gestured to a pair of footprints on the ground, where Karl had sunk ten centimetres deep when he launched.

“You’ve got to be heavier than you look. I’ve never seen a human leave footprints like that in packed dirt before.” The little cleric noted.

“It would certainly make me easier to track. I think it was mostly just inefficient technique on my part. But now I’ve got a good idea of what my legs should be capable of.” Karl agreed.

[I have found our target. There is a Totem Ranked Giant leading what looks like his whole Clan. Definitely Spawned, they’ve got that crazy eyes no talking thing happening.] Hawk updated.

Thor turned toward Hawk’s current location, as the target had moved overnight, and increased his speed to a trot. That made for a gentle swaying of his back, and it would bring them to the target in less than an hour.

The Giants wouldn’t run into anyone else from the Army camp during that time, so it was still their target for the day. There wasn’t anything likely to pick a fight between them and the Giants, but that wasn’t a big deal.

Thor hadn’t gotten to fight Giants since he evolved, and it would be a fun challenge to see how they could be smashed without his defensive ridge.

In his new form, he had to be a bit more careful about the back of his neck, but most things didn’t get past his horns anyhow. The Giants did have a long reach, though. There was a chance that they could attack past his horns to try to get to his back, or to Tessa.

That would be a factor he had to consider, for the safety of his Knight.

Karl casually jogged alongside the Behemoth, letting his excess strength throw him into long leaping strides. The Dwarves would certainly be envious of their travel speed, as even with their impressive strength, short legs made thirty kilometres an hour a difficult speed to reach.

The Giants saw Thor about the same time that Karl saw them, and the whole tribe turned to face the incoming threat.

Ophelia patted Karl on the shoulder. “Brings back memories, doesn’t it? Hill Giants everywhere. We all know the routine, go have fun with the Clan Chief.”

Karl buffed the group, then rushed off to circle to the left of the Giants, as the leader was at the back of the group, giving instructions of some sort.

The System didn’t translate their words, and Karl didn’t speak Giant, but he was fairly sure that some of those words were about ways that Thor could be roasted. The way that the Giants were responding to the enormous Behemoth was definitely hunger.

The leader didn’t seem interested in a duel, and brought two strong Overlords with him when he moved to face Karl.

Not that they would be expected to be able to do any sort of actual damage to Karl, but if they could keep him off balance, it would be enough for the Giants’ leader to get in a few extra hits.

It was an excellent technique in theory. But when Karl opened the battle with [Gravity Slam], the two Overlords were hurled from their feet and crushed into the soft grass.

That left the two Totems alone to face each other for the next few seconds, and neither was planning to hold back.

Karl coated the Sword of Champions in an oversized blade of Ghostfire, while the Giant created a massive club of stone, using an unknown earth type attack skill to extend his reach.

The two oversized weapons collided with a flare of elemental power that blasted outwards in a ring of destruction that made Remi curse and Rae laugh.

{Now you’re just making a mess.} Remi yelled at Karl as he locked weapons with the Giant.

Karl couldn’t see it, but Remi wasn’t joking. That first strike had levelled everything within twenty metres, including a half dozen Monarch Rank Hill Giants.

Karl and the Giant disengaged, then clashed a half dozen times in the next few seconds, testing each other’s strength.

Satisfied with the results, Karl smiled. He was stronger than the Hill Giant, physically. But his power level was still a fair bit lower.