Once the General was done with them, he chased both groups out of his office. He would soon have more directions for both, but a scout could pass the message before they left. He had enough to deal with already without adding the stress of dealing with a stoned Nature Priest and a bunch of miscreant Elite Mercenaries.
“Only one mage in your group?” Karl asked as he looked at the combination.
“Yeah, not great luck on the combo this time, but we’ve got a Ranger, who’s good with longer distance attacks. Our sisters were both sent to the Capital for security detail, so we can’t get them for the team this time.” Bob sighed.
“Well, Tori is good with multiple target attacks, but it’s a bit of a shame that you don’t have a second caster.”
Then Karl paused. There was a spell that Rae knew which could likely be used by Brother Doug. The [Skill Book] ability required that he study and have some understanding of the skill, and he had certainly fulfilled that requirement, though it wasn’t one that he could use himself.
“If you wait a moment, and find me some paper and ink, plus one of those cigarettes, I think I can make a spellbook for Doug. It’s a nature spell, so a Nature Priest should be able to use it.” He added.
Doug didn’t hesitate, and brought out a stack of paper, intended for reports, as well as his good pen and a rolled herbal cigarette.
Karl crushed the herb onto the paper as he took a seat at one of the tables in the dining tent beside the General’s, and began to write out the spell book.
“Rae got this in a Dungeon instance as a reward, but I think it will be compatible. I managed to make a [Refreshing Lightning] version for the Blue Dragon Priests.” Karl explained.
Doug laughed. “I heard all about that. They’re so excited to have a new spell to teach that they’ve been trying to get everyone they meet to learn it. The problem is, it only works for the Blue Dragon priests. Not even the Shamans have managed to learn it straight from the book.”
Thor laughed at that one. He didn’t know how human shamans played with lightning, but Remi’s Lightning and his Lightning were totally different things that just looked the same. He was also eager to come out and play with his old friends, but the camp was so crowded that there simply wasn’t space for him.
Karl needed Rae to help him with the book, for the parts that he didn’t understand, but between them, they quickly got the spell completed, and it formed itself into a Skill Book with a simple wooden cover, and a spear tip on the front.
Doug took the book, and flipped the cover open. That was all that it took for the book to vanish, while the others looked on in envy.
“You know, there is a supply tent here with the essentials, why don’t you get a Golem book?” one of the warriors with Bob’s group asked Tori.
“I’ve already tried, I’m incompatible with the book. I can use arcane spheres that fire multiple magic missiles, though. I’m not great at defence, but I’ve got strong offensive abilities.” She replied sadly.
“That’s alright. We’ve got a High Priest with us, and a Commander Rank defensive warrior. Golems are nice to have, but they’re not the only way to deal with Frost Giants.” The warrior consoled her.
Lotus raised her hand. “I would just like to say, what the heck, dude? You could teach Nature Priests to use [Spear] all this time, and you didn’t make me a copy like two weeks ago? I’ve been right here, riding on Rae’s back while she casts it, and you didn’t once think to teach me?”
Karl blushed in embarrassment. “Would you believe me if I said that I forgot it was possible? I have to study and somewhat understand the skill to transcribe it, but I’ve seen it cast a thousand times now, by Rae and her Golems, and with her help, it wasn’t hard.”
Lotus made a ‘get on with it’ gesture, and Karl started over with Rae’s help to make her a copy of the book.
Lotus grabbed it and did a little happy dance the moment they finished. “This will be perfect. I will have vines and spikes.”
The book vanished in her hands, and the little Priestess frowned. “I have been robbed! Oh, wait, no. This is just as good.”
Karl tried not to laugh at how similar her response was to his beasts when things didn’t go as expected while he waited for her to calm down.
“The two spells combined to give me a third option, which replaced the other two. [Thorned Vines] are basically the two at the same time, but the spears are thorns, and don’t fly out, they just stab when the vines grab something.”
That seemed like it would actually make things easier on Lotus. She was already used to using the vines to restrain targets, but they didn’t do any damage. Now they would restrain targets while doing damage, a two for one combo package.
Bob came over to Karl’s side while Lotus and Doug did a little happy dance together.
“Why did you come in so early? There are still plenty of hunting hours for the day, you could have come at the end of the afternoon.” He asked, while the two Nature Clerics celebrated their new skills.
“I’m not planning to stay. Now that we’ve given them their report, I’m going to leave again. We’ve got a good spot in the forward operating area, where we can engage the Frost Giants easily, but still remain safe to sleep at night.” Karl explained.
“We found your other fort on the way in, the one in the trees near the camp. At least, I assume it’s you. It is spider silk, and I didn’t see any sort of monsters in the area other than the Frost Giants.” Bob replied.
“Yeah, that was almost certainly the one made by Rae. It’s far enough outside the camp that you don’t get suckered into a front-line rotation in an attack, but you’re close enough to assist or return to inform them of your destination when you head out in the morning.”
Suddenly, Doug and Lotus both turned back to the group.
Lotus had a huge smile on her face as she made her announcement. “We have an idea. Why don’t we head out together tonight? The safe spot is big enough for both groups, and we can have Remi hide our tracks every night. Then we can work out of the same area for support, and compete to see who can eliminate more Frost Giants?”
Bob looked impressed. “That’s actually not a terrible idea. Two scout groups to protect a camp, which means we can split resources, and we will only need to warm one space, and we won’t have to lose as much sleep to watch duties.”
It would also keep the two groups close together if there was a larger threat, so if they sent a radio call, the other team could come quickly to assist them. The official stance was that they didn’t have enough Elites to have large teams, but their two teams working out of the ruins was no different from all the teams that returned to base at the end of the day.
The ranger on Bob’s team immediately became suspicious, and began looking back and forth between the team leaders and the Nature Priests.
“What are you not telling us? We all saw the scout reports, why do you think that we need two teams with multiple Commander Rank members working together?” He demanded.
Bob patted him on the shoulder. “Bless your heart, you don’t get out much, do you? The official scout reports don’t include anything from teams that were lost, or teams that haven’t reported in, or any of the enemy reserves that are too far for our scouts to get a confirmed number for.
In short, it’s about a quarter of the total combat power that the enemy has in the area at any given time, and only gives a general idea of what you’re likely to see on patrol.
But the Frost Giants are all worked up today, so they’re going to start sending more attackers forward. When they do, we will be glad to have the support nearby. Their team is fast, and if we call when we see a major threat, we can face it as a group instead of taking risks, then spread out to continue scouting.”
The Ranger sighed. “I work for the bureau of natural resources. I run an animal shelter for unwanted and abandoned pets. I didn’t expect to get a draft notice in the mail so soon after the conflict started.”
That was truly unfortunate. Nobody wanted to be in the first round of draft notices.
It did, however, solidify Karl’s opinion that he had done the right thing by picking a team and coming in advance.
