None of them were sleeping deeply, except for Lotus under the [Disintegration] bubble that Cara had erected over them while they slept.
At first, Karl thought that it must take a lot of energy to keep an attack spell active all night like that, but the void badger used it like a tripwire. There was almost no energy in it until something touched it and woke her up, then she would lash out at them.
With [Eternal Lightning] active, it was no burden at all, and she could keep it active without interrupting her normal night’s rest.
So, that was what she did, and took full advantage of the fact that they had a small person for her to cuddle like a stuffed toy.
The first few hours after their arrival, the monsters seemed just as confused to be here as Karl was to see them there. But once they got their bearings, they began to spread out and stake their claim on the surrounding areas.
Nothing had claimed the areas that were dangerously close to their camp, but twice in the early morning hours, Karl heard the sounds of combat as they either attacked a distant farm, or were attacked by the locals whose territory they had trespassed on.
The farmers were mostly Minotaurs and related species around here, and they did not take kindly to whatever these creatures were.
Without light, Karl couldn’t be certain, but to thermal vision, it still looked like Yeti and Drakes, as Rae had described them.
The whole group was up with first light, too nervous about the situation to sleep.
“What are we going to do? Do we follow the river toward the road and continue with the plan to keep working as merchants? Or do we just assume that everything has gone to shit if they’re getting random monster spawns in the monster nation?” Dana asked, gesturing with a spoonful of oatmeal to emphasize her words.
Tessa sighed and nodded. “Some of the monsters are sure to settle in, while others will be killed in territory wars. But hanging around longer than necessary isn’t a particularly smart call.
Whether we go north to get out, or east as planned to finish our loop, I think that we shouldn’t delay.
It might only be this area that is in trouble, but I have an idea of why.
The Golden Dragon Nation has always had too many anomalies and some low-level dungeons. That’s why nothing else really wanted the territory to begin with, leaving it to the humans.
But now there is a stable dungeon here. A stable dungeon should also mean unstable anomalies that dump monsters on the area. That’s how it works at home.”
Karl frowned.
“So, that means the region around the Dungeon is likely to have a never-ending supply of trouble, just appearing?” He asked.
Tessa nodded. “Not every day, but they are more common near known stable anomalies of all sorts. So, it’s likely that there will be more anomalies in this nation now than there were before.
I don’t know all the details, that’s more the specialty of the Blue Dragons and their research teams, but it’s not a secret within the church that a new anomaly means more monster subjugation missions in the area over the next few years.
There is one near the Seminary Academy, and the monster appearances are reliable enough that they use the region to train Church Guards.”
“That sneaky Dragon.” Lotus gasped as she realized the implications.
Ophelia was taking a moment to consider all the options, while a smirk slowly grew on Dana’s face.
“I just learned a valuable tidbit about the nature of the Bronze Dragons. They serve the Dragon Aspect of Law and Rules. But their actual attitude toward the law is much more [If there is no law directly saying you can’t, then you can.] The spirit of the law concerns their patron much less than the actual letter of the law.
Many people go out of their way to obey the spirit of agreements, so they don’t upset the Bronze Dragon and bring misfortune on themselves. But if they just looked for a clear and legitimate loophole, I don’t think he would mind.”
Lotus nodded. “That’s right. The Bronze Dragon clerics are sticklers for contracts. If you want moral rulings, look for one of the Gold Dragon or World Dragon followers.”
Karl had begun to suspect that the World Dragon was much more amusement driven and less moralistic than the church let on. But he wouldn’t say that in front of a pair of clerics. At least not until he had definitive proof.
That voice in his head, laughing at him every time something strange happened in relation to the system, was most likely the World Dragon. But that was impossible to prove.
“So, what way are we going? Where does Hawk say the easiest way through is?” Ophelia asked.
“There isn’t one. No matter where we go, we’re going to have a fight. They’ve just been avoiding us because they think we’re a sleeping monster pack, and they didn’t want to fight at night.
Now that the sun is coming up, they will realize that we’re a merchant wagon with guards. Once that happens, they will get more aggressive, especially the Drakes.
I don’t know what skills these sand coloured ones have, but we can hope that it’s not something hard to deal with.” Karl explained.
Tessa shrugged. “The Copper Drakes shouldn’t be too bad. They are a type of sand dragon. They use a corrosive sand cloud attack. The problem will be if they’re working with another monster. Drakes are smarter than people give them credit for.
They can adapt to the weaknesses of their enemies, and bolster the strength of their allies.
They might not be as powerful as their Draconic cousins, but the Drakes are a higher order beast, and if they’re working with an intelligent monster, they could be forming complex and deadly strategies.
What does Hawk say about the power levels?”
Hawk did one more loop of the immediate area to check, and found that it was mostly Ascended Rank, but there were two Commander Rank Drakes in his scanning range.
“Mostly Ascended. At the same level as the Dungeon, so it shouldn’t be too bad for us this morning. But that could change at any time.”
