Karl smiled as he saw what he had gotten.
[Advance Evolution by one Rank]
[Invalid Target]
[Advance Skill Master Rank 2 to Skill Master Rank 3]
[…]
Karl got the impression that the system couldn’t decide whether he was trolling it or not. It was obvious that the token was a single use Skill Master Rank 3 token. Using it to advance Skill Master to Rank 3 seemed to have confused the system.
But, he waited patiently to see what would happen.
The token could have just told him it was an invalid target and made him pick a different one. In fact, Karl expected that it would, after a few more seconds.
[Skill Master Advanced to Rank 3]
[Skill Master Advanced to Rank 4]
[Max Tier reached]
[Skill Master 4] Allows all skills to evolve to one Rank and one Tier higher than their current tier with practice. *Additional Functions Locked Until Second Advancement*
Karl stared at the notification. Now he understood why everything had frozen. Skill Master 3 allowed Skills to evolve by a Tier with practice, and he had a lot of practice with Skill Master.
So, it had tried to evolve to Rank 4, the next logical tier of its own ability. However, he didn’t meet all the requirements of Skill Master Rank 4. So, it had momentarily frozen as it attempted to advance.
“Are you back with us?” Tessa asked as the scene faded from Karl’s vision.
“Yeah, sorry. There was a random item thing, and it’s a bit distracting.”
She nodded. “So, did they give you something good? Random rewards are usually pretty good.”
Karl shrugged. “We will see. The reward it gave me is somewhat situational. It could be good, or it could be no different from a skill I would have already gotten soon.”
A small girl came over and stared up at Karl. He wasn’t sure what she wanted, but he put a hand on her head and patted her while he finished talking to Tessa and Corbin.
“Dammit, stop with the hair. Have you forgotten me so fast?” She demanded.
[Do you collect small women?] Cara asked curiously.
[Definitely not. We’re at two and two, tall versus short.]
Karl looked down, and realized that he really didn’t recognize that face. No, he did, but he had only seen it once before.
“Tori?” He asked.
“I am Tamarind now. It’s good to see you again. You’ve gotten stupidly powerful since I saw you last.” She replied.
“So, you’re a proper Spellblade now, are you?”
The vicious smile she gave him looked wrong on such a cute child’s face.
“Not yet. I am an Ascended Rank mage, but I haven’t earned the right to call myself a Spellblade yet. I am along as a trainee, working to expand my combat skills until I’m good enough that I can pass the exams.” She explained.
“I’m glad you’re doing well. After the resurrection, I wasn’t certain that you would be able to adapt so easily.”
Tori, now Tamarind, laughed at Karl’s concern. “You don’t need to worry that much about me. I have turned over a whole new leaf. I’ve got all this family to look out for me now, and they’re happy to keep me away from any sort of misbehaviour.”
“Why don’t we relax and have something to eat?” Tessa suggested.
“A midnight snack? I think that we’ve earned it. We will have to rearrange our night watch, but everyone should be able to get at least a few more hours of sleep tonight.”
Karl nodded in agreement. “Your team was nearly in the centre of the spawn, so even if we start moving later in the morning, we should still make it out of the area that is likely to be covered in zombies tomorrow night.”
Sleeping wouldn’t be a problem for most of the Spellblades, and the wagon was still set up for sleeping, other than the tarps that they had taken down. All the hammocks were still hung, and only a little dirty from the race across the grasslands.
Everyone ate quietly, and by the time that they were finished and everyone except the Commanders who were on guard from the Spellblade Clan had gotten back to bed, the horizon was already beginning to lighten.
A couple of hours was all they were going to get to rest, and then they would have to discuss where they were going next.
A soft whistle just after full dawn caught Karl’s attention, and then someone knocked gently on the side of the wagon, alerting them that someone needed their attention.
Karl rolled out of his hammock, and Prince Corbin motioned for him to remain silent.
“There is motion in the distance. I think that someone knows we are here.” He whispered.
“Should we split up?” Karl whispered back.
“How certain are you that your cover story is good?”
“It’s solid. How sure are you that you can take whatever is coming?” Karl replied.
“Not at all. I suspect that it’s an army unit. They must have come from the Capital to deal with the Anomalies.
Their seers will have known that there was going to be something happening here tonight, and if they dispatched an army unit to deal with it, they’re not going to be weak.”
Karl nodded.
“What direction are they coming from?”
“Southeast. Where are you going to go?” Corbin asked.
“I am going to go straight east, as planned. It’s the logical route for me to take, headed straight to the road. Where are you going?”
“Southwest. I have disguise magic that will hide us from cursory detection. The army is charged with keeping nomads under control, so they’re not going to be particularly kind to a nomadic Spellblade Clan.”
Corbin nodded, and Karl prepared to hop back on the wagon as Dana packed up the hammock.
“Good luck. We will see you soon. I’m not going to push for more information when things are this bad. The government might have been willing to sacrifice some lives for valuable information, but there is no need to waste my people when we already know the answers we came for.”
They shook hands, and Karl sent everyone but Thor and two of Remi’s bodyguards back into the spaces. With Dana’s Golems walking behind them, they headed east through the ash piles left after their battle.
Once they were up out of the depression, Prince Corbin activated an air spell that made a mirage over their group, effectively hiding them from simple visual detection.
That should be good enough to prevent the army from finding them, and the whole Clan was headed straight south, on a course where they wouldn’t be intercepted.
But Karl and his team were in the open, and it wouldn’t be long before the scouts changed course to intercept him and his team.
There would certainly be questions. Especially if they were expecting a massive horde of zombies right here. They were still close enough to see the remnants of the battle, so there wasn’t going to be any way to hide that the zombies had been here.
Karl raised a hand in greeting when the closest of the scouts, a Tortollan warrior with a sturdy turtle shell around his torso, gestured in their direction.
“Everyone ready? It’s time to play our parts.”
