Karl returned to the group and explained the situation.
That put a small dent in their plans. It was hard to clear out anomalies when the locals were using them as reserve livestock.
Instead of heading for the anomaly, they loaded everyone in the wagon and followed Hawk's directions northwest toward an area that clearly had far too many monsters, and no local farrs. That one should be sothing that they could fight against.
"There is a nice spot here by the river, why don't we call it a day and start hunting monsters in the morning?" Dana suggested most of an hour into their trip.
"That's not a bad idea. We're not trying to speed run the clearance, and with all the changes that we have seen, it would be wise to stop and see if this is stable." Nachtia agreed.
There was no real advantage to clearing the whole area if it was just going to reset, and the number of Anomalies didn't actually go down.
A short break before they had to do any more fighting would be good for everyone.
They didn't take nearly as many breaks as most groups would in their situation, but that didn't really bother most of them, except on the days when they wanted to just lie around and do nothing.
Today was one of those days.
They had been on plenty of adventures lately, and they really could use a few down days to just relax. Nobody wanted to burn out, and they had been much more active than nearly any other group of elites that they had t since they had co to the dragon isles.
[There is a really nice stand of trees over there.] Rae suggested as they reached the river.
It wasn't a huge shelter, like the ones that they would usually choose, but the small poplar trees were enough to hide the parked carriage from long-range observation. That was enough to get them through the night in safety, and then they could go looking for more fights tomorrow.
That was enough for everyone in the group, and especially for Rae, who had big plans for the night.
If everything went right, she should be able to complete her advancent in the evening, and then she would be joining the fight as a Totem Ranked Blood Destruction Demonic Spider tomorrow, with a full set of Totem Ranked skills and Golems.
That would absolutely devastate most of the enemies that they had faced so far, and establish her as the strongest sister for at least a week.
The thought made Tian laugh. She would probably be the strongest of all the partners for at least that week, as his body wasn't up to sustained use of his skills yet.
But he was adapting quickly in this space. Especially with all the good food.
He wasn't the only one that was confident, either. Cara was certain that she could make Totem Rank without any real issues, and Butterfly was beginning to awaken from her dreams more often, now that Karl's power had increased to the extent that she had excess energy.
The Totem Rank advancent had been a huge boon for her, as it was finally enough high-quality mana that she could do more than just focus on survival and basic illusions as she dread.
A little longer and her mind would fully awaken.
Once that happened, her powers would be much more formidable, and she could join the rest of the team in fully participating in combat events, as well as travel.
Thor was doing all the transport now, but with her solid illusions, Butterfly was certain that she would be able to do at least that well. She could even make flying mounts for everyone.
But in her half awake state, it finally occurred to her that she needed to pick a na.
The Karl had asked her that once before, but she was sleeping. She couldn't introduce herself as so random butterfly when she had already made friends with these people in her illusionary world.
It had to be a good na. Sothing suitable to her species, but still easy enough to pronounce for others. Her first thought was the sound of crystal sliding down a silver surface, but that wasn't a noise that other species could make.
Maybe sothing that had to do with music? The language of the Glasswing Illusionary Butterfly was entirely musical notes created by their crystalline bodies. That made it difficult for her to pick a na, as all the good ones were impossible for others.
How could she even explain that the best options were unavailable when nobody else spoke the language?
But didn't dragons have the sa issue? They picked two nas, one in Draconic, and one for everyone else. Most species couldn't roar at all, and few could mimic a Dragon's roar well enough to pronounce a Dragon's true na.
So, she could have two nas as well. The first would be her favourite sound in the whole world, while the common na would be sothing easy to rember. Argent? Eris? Lira?
No, none of those were quite right. She needed to co up with a na, but it had to be a good na. Sothing that she would be proud to introduce herself as.
They had Hawk, and Thor, Rae, Remi, Cara, Nachtia and Tian. Dana, Lotus, Tessa, and Ophelia. All the nas were so different that she couldn't even use them as a reference to pick one for herself.
What about Nautila? Since she was found in the shoreline waves of Drodh? No, that would just lead to Cara making naughty jokes at her expense.
Opal? She could be Opal. The stone shimred like the reflection of light on her wings.
Yes, that would be her na. Opal Karlsdotter. She had already studied the Dwarven and human histories, and that was definitely the proper family na for the daughter of a Karl.
Now, she just had to find the perfect ti to introduce herself to the others. Maybe after this nap. A little more sleep would do wonders for her ntal clarity.
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