Rae appeared in the middle of the room, looking very much like she always had. So, why she would be a surprise for anyone present was a mystery.
However, after a quick check to make certain that nobody else was watching, she stepped forward, and through the table next to them, using [Ghost Beast] to pass through the solid stone table.
“Did she just?” Tessa asked quietly.
“She did.” Karl agreed, before Rae returned to her nap.
She was fairly certain that she still had a ways to go to master that skill, even if she could make it function right now. There was much more to an Epic Grade skill than simply being able to make it activate.
Nobody else said anything about it out loud, as the acolytes were beginning to return with dinner now. But that didn’t mean that they were not all silently celebrating.
Dana gave Karl a meaningful look, quietly asking him if this is what he had been up to since his arrival. It hadn’t been planned, at least not by him, but even a single skill for his beasts was a huge win, and Rae’s new skill was an incredible one.
“So, are we here as substitute teachers for beastkin Acolytes? As adorable as they are, I suspect that will not be enough to keep the Red Dragon happy. It’s been a while since we fulfilled the terms of the contract now.” Ophelia reminded them.
Tessa declined to mention that whatever Karl had been up to while he was gone had been counted toward their timer. Anyone listening didn’t need to know that they had extra time. But she had an idea.
“Maybe we can convince them to let us head back to the battlefield? It’s not that far from here to the back side of the Mountain Giant Nation. They shouldn’t hold it against the beasts if a few humans are let loose on them.”
From somewhere on Karl’s right, a derisive snort of laughter caught his attention.
“While I don’t doubt that the Monster Man can take on a Monarch Rank Giant, you should realize that they send them out ten at a time in border patrol teams. Not even the Red Dragon would be impressed if you committed suicide, human.”
Tessa turned to look at the speaker, and saw that it was a large and muscular Lion type beastkin, nearly as large as Ophelia’s Werebear form.
He was on the strong side of Commander, but he lived here, so he would be more of an expert on the situation at their border with the Mountain Giants than they were.
But to think that they put border patrols that strong along the border with the Divine Beasts. That had to be cutting down on the strength they could put against the humans, even though they were at war.
The Golden Dragon Nation didn’t have hundreds of Monarch Rank Elites to throw around, and if the Giants were using them as border patrol, they clearly did.
Tessa smiled at him. “Don’t underestimate a War Priestess. But you have a point, we’re not up to that. I don’t suppose you have any suggestion on how to keep the Red Dragon happy while we’re waiting for what the representative called ‘their earliest convenience’ to make sure we get back home?”
The beastkin shrugged. “No idea. But the border is a bad idea.”
The group finished their dinner and headed for bed, escorted by the Acolytes.
“Um, we usually have two to a room, so Mister Karl will have to sleep alone, unless you want to share with an Acolyte.” A small wolf kin boy explained as he led them to the visitor quarters.
“Or I could share with Dana and High Priestess Lotus could share with an Acolyte.” Karl offered.
The boy looked horrified. “You can’t share a room with girls. They might have cooties.”
Karl did his best not to laugh at the panicked look on the boy’s face, while the others tried not to laugh.
“Um, no offence. I’m sure you don’t really have cooties.” He stammered when he remembered that everyone could hear him.
Karl smiled at the others. “Well, ladies, you heard the young Acolyte. It looks like you’re sharing, and I will have one of the Acolytes as a roommate.”
Lotus stuck out her tongue at Karl, even though he had tried to set her up with an Acolyte to bunk with. They probably wouldn’t get much sleep. Only Tessa could reliably make Lotus sleep before she wore herself out, but it would have helped the Nature Cleric’s mood.
Karl didn’t actually expect them to transfer someone into his room, as the Acolytes should have all had their own rooms, but when he got inside, one of the beds was already taken by a dragonkin of some sort, with white hair and silver horns.
“Good evening.” Karl said softly as he prepared to climb into bed.
The figure turned over, and familiar white eyes stared back at him.
“Bishop Misty?” Karl asked.
“Right on the first try. Very good. Now that everyone else is asleep, I do have a few questions for you about what you saw when you were in the past, and what you learned.
I sent you there, but I didn’t have an opportunity to monitor everything that you were doing. Not when that annoying Archbishop was hounding me again.”
“You sent me? So it wasn’t an anomaly?” Karl asked, now on guard against this strange creature.
“Of course I did. Someone needed to go. Who could be better than you? You have beasts to keep you alive, you have survival skills, the humans will believe what you tell them, and it was easy enough to ensure that you ended up back here where I could talk to you before you left.” She announced proudly.
“So, you wanted me to go back and find out something about the past?” Karl asked, not understanding.
“Find out? Nonsense, I can see the past. Plus, Orthos was there. I wanted you to go there and experience it so that you could confirm whether the system version that is being awakened by the new Dungeons is the same for humans.
Tell me, were there any new functions during that time that you didn’t have already after visiting the dungeon? I can borrow one of the newly awakened if we need.”
That could be a political nightmare.
“Their inventory system was not the same as mine, and I don’t seem to have as much storage. They can see names and classes over everyone’s head as well. I couldn’t do that before, or perhaps I didn’t know how to activate it until I saw them do it.
I can do it now, but I never think to do it, and only a few people actually have a tag. You do, now that I’m looking for it. My group members all do, and Orthos does, but I haven’t been looking to see if anyone else does.
Other than that, they had a guild function, and I have no idea how that works.” Karl explained.
Misty nodded. “That is understandable. The ability to make new Guilds was lost even then. Everyone just joined one of the few surviving ones from the times before.”
Karl snapped his fingers. “The city control function. That might be part of the Guild functions, but the city was under control of the Guild, and it changed hands with a challenge.”
Misty smiled. “That is also lost. The city control stones were a magical item that was linked to the guilds, not part of the core System Functions.
But if you maintained some of the upgrades that you gained there, and we now know that at least a few beastkin can be awakened by the item you brought back, it means that both our Nation and yours should be able to awaken more by having them equip gear from the dungeon.”
Karl smiled, and the Dragon nodded happily. “See, I won’t make you work for nothing. This is valuable information. But the important part is the next part. Simply wearing the item isn’t enough.
You need to equip it.
That can only be done if you’re already primed for the system. So, either have all the kids who have taken the injection also try to equip the item, or have someone with a fully functional system put the item on them and focus on equipping it to them.
That is what Orthos did.”
Karl nodded and made a physical note to go with the mental note.
“Why are you telling me all this? Wouldn’t it be better for your people if I didn’t know?”
Misty shook her head. “No, it is better if everyone knows now because everyone will figure it out eventually on their own. But Orthos has another treasure for you tomorrow, and the Gods will demand that you have it.
Now, you look rather warm, so slide over.”
Karl barely had time to react before the Dragon had slid under his blankets, and was curling up to go back to sleep.
They could talk about this treasure Orthos had for him tomorrow.
