The First Legendary Beast Master

Tessa laughed. Of course, Thor would be all in on any plan that involved him pulling a wagon. It might not be the most practical way, now that he was huge, but he could shrink his size to something appropriate for the task, and it would keep him from getting bored during a long trip.

At the next table over, a young Dwarf with an odd gold medallion around his neck raised his mug to toast them.

“We could use more adventurers in the wilderness. I’m with the 11th Narazir Regiment, stationed a hundred or so kilometres northwest of here, near where we have had an outbreak of desert monster spawns lately.

A few more wandering groups with your power would do a world of good in both reporting and controlling the problem.” He announced.

“That could be a good spot for us to start. Are they Rank appropriate for our group, Monarchs and Overlords?” Karl asked.

“A bit heavy on the Overlords, but I haven’t seen a Totem Ranked spawn in the region until now. Most of the problem now isn’t even the new spawns, it’s the thousands and thousands of monsters left over from old ones.

They just wander the region, insane and causing chaos.

Most of them are at least desert creatures, but you will find some that are truly out of place in the dry environments. We fought a group of Water Buffalo not too long ago.”

Karl gave him a confused look. “I thought water buffalo lived in arid regions?”

The Dwarves nearby all laughed. “Different Water Buffalo. These ones are the Monarch Ranked water magic wielding version of the common animal, which is now extinct in this region.”

That made sense. There wouldn’t be many common Rank creatures left with such powerful and hungry monsters, and certainly not ones from large prey species.

[Does that mean they’re extra juicy?] Hawk wondered.

“How large are the monster versions?” Karl asked.

“About five metres tall. Solid muscle too.” The Dwarf replied with a shrug.

[Definitely sounds juicy.] Hawk sighed.

“Well, perhaps we’ll see some on our trip. A tasty monster never goes wrong in the skillet.” Karl joked.

The Dwarves laughed, then one of them pulled a stool up to the end of the table to speak with Karl’s group.

“If you’re going on a road trip, I suppose that you’ll need a wagon, won’t you? Or do you have one in storage?” He asked.

“Actually, we will need one. A fairly large and sturdy one. Not just because we have a group travelling, but for bulk trade goods, should we find the right opportunity.

Past experience tells me that even if we don’t intend to, it’s better to have the ability to move bulk goods than to put the ladies in a packed carriage.

We have often used a farmer’s cart in the past, with a hoop canvas cover.” Karl explained.

The Dwarf nodded. “I have one like that in my shop’s yard. The traders and farmers hate to wait when a wagon gets destroyed by monsters, so I keep some inventory. If you want to swing by on the way out of town, I can get you set up.

I recall that you have a few large beasts in your group, so you should have something to pull it, yes?”

Thor nodded enthusiastically. “We are certainly not short on beasts to pull the wagon.”

The Dwarf finished his ale, then stood and straightened his beard. “I will be cleaning up the shop. The front room took some damage, but I’m right at the north gates if you want to stop in. The wagons weren’t damaged at all.”

Karl shook his hand, and saw that the team was all ready to leave already.

“We will accompany you. We’re headed north into the wilderness, and as the soldier suggested, we will head off to the northwest to see what we can find. Combat is the best way to advance the skills of an adventurer, and these ladies all stand a good chance of making it to Overlord soon.” Karl explained.

The Dwarves in the tavern raised a toast to them as the team followed the carriage maker into the streets.

It was already packed in the city, with everyone scrambling to get essentials, find someone for urgent repairs, or even loot damaged buildings while nobody was looking.

Opportunistic thieves always did well after a tragedy.

Well, the ones that were good at their craft, anyhow. Karl could hear the public flogging of at least one person caught thieving from the damaged buildings. Whether that would be the end of it, he did not know. But there was definitely whipping and a crowd denouncing a thief.

The front of the carriage maker’s shop was just as heavily damaged as he had suggested, and it had obviously been bashed in by an Ogre during the fight. However, the blocks had been roughly refit, with only a few open chunks where stone had been crushed to powder.

“Two of us have some Earth Magic, would you accept repairs as part of the payment? I can’t say we’re as good as a Dwarven Master Stonemason, but we can keep the elements out of the shop, and ensure it won’t collapse.” Karl offered.

The Dwarf stroked his beard as he thought. “If you can patch the front wall and the roof, it will cover a farmer’s cart or half the cost of a merchant caravan wagon. Let me show you the one.”

Karl followed him out back, and saw the difference. One was roughly hewn wood, with a canvas hoop roof. That would not be an expensive wagon by any means. But the other was a masterpiece. Polished and varnished wood making up the carriage front half of the wagon, with a folding sided back half, topped by a canvas covered hoop cover.

Twice the value of a standard cart for that would be a steal.

It had a living space for the merchant and likely his guards, with room for the more expensive trade goods behind it.

It even had spring steel mounts for the seat instead of the usual leather suspended bench.

That wagon had potential.

They were all a standardized width, to fit the ruts of every other carriage that had passed down the roads. But it was longer than even the bulk farmer’s wagon, and Karl was certain that he could magically enhance the interior.

If he took a few days on the road, and a Totem Ranked elemental stone, he should be able to create an [Illusionary Domain] spell item.

Though, that would alert the monsters with the continual spell effect. He could just open the [Tiny World] inside the carriage portion, to give everyone more room when they needed it.

Nobody would question people going into a carriage and remaining there all day.

“How much on top of the repairs for the merchant carriage?” Karl asked.

The Dwarf smiled. “Only one hundred more gold coins. It’s got Royal Rank running gear, no wagon rut will break a wheel, and the wood is Dwarven Ironwood. Monster resistant up to Commander Rank.”

Karl nodded, and opened a trade window.

“Thank you for your business. I do hope that we see you again one day, perhaps under better circumstances.”

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