The next morning, Tessa and Lotus, along with the military team’s healer, made a big breakfast for everyone, while the rest of the unit took a swim in the lake.
Undershirts and military issued boxer briefs were the fashion of the day, getting the essentials clean while they frolicked in the water. The mages had promised to use air magic to dry everyone when they got out, so for now, it was just time to relax.
Once the cooking was done, the healers traded spots with them, and ate while floating in the water. At first, the unit thought that they’d gotten the better end of that deal, until they realized that it took longer to break camp than it did to cook breakfast.
Karl ended up having to use his sword to disassemble their portion of the camp, as Rae had made triple bunk hammocks for them to sleep in, but the web was too strong for a normal knife to cut through. If he pushed that hard, he would cut through the tree instead.
“You look lost in thought.” Sergeant Rita noted as Karl rolled the hammocks around sticks and strapped them to his pack.
“Lots to think about today. Everyone is about full-grown, and it’s time to find a new skill or a way for them to break through. The mental spaces for them are close to complete, and that will push Rae well into the Ascended Rank without too much trouble, but after that, I might flat line unless I pick up another pet, or help these Three Stooges skip the slow part of their growth.” Karl explained.
Rita nodded. “Yeah, I foresaw that same issue before we came out here, but I didn’t expect them to make it quite this far before becoming stuck. What you really need are the accolades right now.
All these assists on Commander Rank kills really add up, and with the accumulated points, we can go to the Government University’s genetic research lab. They are always working on something, and they might have a clue as to how to help the beasts grow.
Other than that, it’s pure luck, or in-depth research on your own to try to find something that will work for them. We found a way for Hawk, and that brought him up a full Rank, so there is a chance that we can find something for the others as well.
Perhaps a Lightning-based resource for Thor would help his power grow?
As for Rae, I’m not certain now that she’s showing signs of becoming a mage type support fighter. I would have thought that warrior resources to increase her attack power and durability would be best, but the first additional skill she learned was Tree Golems.
That doesn’t match with anything that I know about the species, so there is a chance that we don’t really understand them at all.”
Rae rolled her eyes in her resting spot. Of course, she was misunderstood. Who could comprehend the ways of darkness, or the pure beauty that was a Bloodbath Spider? The humans simply lacked a sufficient sense of majesty to truly appreciate her nature.
Karl let her rant about her own majesty for a while as he packed up the camp gear, and then the unit prepared to head out to the first targets that Hawk had spotted that morning.
[We should go see the other unit first. They will want to fight the Ogres with us.] Hawk suggested.
Karl relayed the information to the Lieutenant, and he got the unit moving. The other group had camped in a hollow between two hills, not realizing that there were Ogres living in caves in both hills.
Neither of the entrances pointed toward the hollow, but it wouldn’t take the Ogres long to realize that there was someone right next to their den.
[I don’t think that they’re going to fight the Ogres with us unless we hurry.] Hawk updated just after the group started moving.
[And why is that?] Karl asked.
[The Ogres are awake now. That patrol is totally going to get eaten if we’re not there in like five minutes.]
“We’ve got about five minutes before the Ogres find and eat the patrol.” Karl updated.
That got everyone up to a run, with Tessa and Alice on Thor’s back, while Lotus was riding Rae through the trees, using a short length of silk as a harness.
The military unit was staying together, and Sergeant Rita had joined Dana in keeping pace with them, but just having the other Elites in place for a fight would be enough.
The patrol needed at least one of the Ascended Rank Elites with them, and that was Sergeant Rita, while Dana missed her chance to get on Thor before the Cerro took off through the trees.
The young mage shook her head in dismay as she jogged along next to the military patrol, and Rita patted her on the shoulder in consolation.
“You’ve got to move fast if you want a lift. We were both too far away this time, but there’s always next time.” She offered.
Dana smiled and shook her head. “If you can’t move fast enough to catch up, I have no chance. Even Alice only got on because they nearly ran over her.”
The Lieutenant chuckled at the two bickering Elites. From Karl’s description, they had over a kilometre left to go, and the unit shouldn’t take too much more than five minutes to get there, but if the Ogres were about to attack a unit that was still half asleep and slacking on the guard duties, they were likely to still be too late.
Karl and the others got to the site just in time, as Hawk began to bombard the Ogres with fireballs to wake up the camp and cause enough noise that they would know that they were in trouble.
The problem was that this was a group of Ascended Ogres, and there was only one Ascended member in their team. With half the group asleep or drowsy, they weren’t putting on much of a showing of proper defensive formation.
Their group could, logically, defeat these Ogres. But it would require teamwork and strategy.
That was not the plan that Karl and the others had come up with, as a Lightning Cerro charged through the edge of the camp, and Alice leapt from his back into Karl’s arms for a gentle landing.
Rae had called out the Spider Golems, and the situation in the ambushed camp was utter chaos, unable to understand why they were caught in the middle of a fight between beasts Ogres and mercenary Elites.
In their minds, they were just in the wrong place at the wrong time. But they had been here all night, and with the Ogres so close, they were slowly realizing that good timing just saved their day.
Alice’s voice echoed through the area as her Golem stomped into battle. “Good morning, Ladies and Gentlemen. As you can see, your camp was approached to within thirty metres without a single alarm being sounded this morning. In fact, you didn’t even notice a rampaging Lightning Cerro charging through the forest in your direction.
This is not acceptable practice for night watch. If you will kindly bring me your Team Leader, I would like to have a word with them while my team finishes with the Ogre threat.”
