Chapter 170: New Fort

Karl checked the cave, and gathered the few coins that the Giants had gathered. There were numerous trophies in the cave, along with rancid meat and an incredible number of bones, but nothing of real value.

He shook his head as he returned to the group and noticed that Rae had moved the Commander Rank Giant into her web as a trophy, and then helped the mages up onto Thor's back.

"How are you still mobile? You burned as much mana as I did, and I'm half dead here." Doug asked as Karl helped him to his feet.

"Refreshing Lightning. It's Thor's specialty. It recovers stamina and mana, with a slow healing effect. While I burned a lot of mana, I also recovered most of what I used. I don't have a skill that uses significantly more than the lightning barrier recovers, so it takes a while before I'm burnt out.

Thor is the same way, he can go half the day at full output if he doesn't get hurt too badly."

Thor was still limping, and some of his scales had cracks, but he was in better shape than the mages, who looked grateful for the lift.

Karl slung their packs across Thor's upper pair of horns, and Bob helped Doug get mobile again.

The casters had taken the worst of the exhaustion, while Bob had taken a heavy beating. Rae was still in rough shape, and she retreated into her space to rest and recover, while Hawk scouted for a good spot to hide for the night.

They were just starting to leave when one large ogre with a stupid smile on his face walked into the camp, holding a dead Iron Tusk Boar by its hind legs.

It looked very proud of itself, and it was calling out for the Giants, until it finally registered what was going on.

Karl stepped forward, sword in hand, and lopped its head off from ten metres away with a single [Shred] attack.

"I've had quite enough fighting for one day, but I'm keeping that boar." He muttered as he tossed the carcass into the space for Hawk, or for the group to cook later.

[I've got a spot. Not quite a kilometre, but up in a good tree. As long as Rae is up for it.] Hawk suggested.

[Not too far up a tree. I will have to carry the mages up the ladder.] Karl reminded him.

[Got it. It's still a good spot.]

It was slow-going for the first few minutes, but Doug was slowly recovering, thanks to his own magic refreshing him, and Bob didn't have to support him anymore.

Hawk had picked them another Redwood tree, but this time they weren't going to the top, just up far enough that the Giants wouldn't be able to get to them.

It would still be quite the climb, but Rae was feeling a bit better after a half hour of rest, and she was ready to make another fort.

"Just keep it simple. We're going to have to move on again in the morning, and I don't know if we will be back. Just enough to let us sleep in peace." Karl reminded her.

Today's version was much smaller than the opulent fort she had made the last time, but it was big enough for them all to lay down, and it was well hidden far enough up the tree that the Giants wouldn't be able to hit them unless they threw their clubs.

Doug had a plan to prevent that as well. He used his magic to create a set of herbs that he scattered over the floor of the fort, and on the ground around the tree.

"That will mask our scent for the night. If Karl and Bob carry the mages up, we can get dinner in us and sleep. Same watch schedule as usual." Doug explained.

The mages complained, but didn't actually stop the two from picking them up on one hip and carrying them up the ladder. It was a bit tricky to climb with just one hand and carrying an extra burden, but they were fairly light, and as soon as Karl was in the fort, Thor returned to his space for the night.

Bob gave the group a weak smile. "I guess we can confirm that this group has Commander Rank battle power now. I have sent in the battle results and location to the battlefield Command, but they haven't responded yet.

There were too many battles today for them to process them all right away, but we should have some good rewards coming to us when we get home. Now we just hope that the next time we come across a cave full of Giants, it's not that messy."

"Amen to that. We had the Dragon's own luck to make it out of that without losing any gear." Doug agreed.

Karl's regretful sigh reminded the others that he wasn't as experienced as they were in the wilderness.

"In case of emergency, we have a potion that will give us a burst of energy. Not mana, just physical energy. The idea is that you drop all the weight you can and run if you have to use it. Flee and live to fight another day. But that normally means losing all your gear."

Karl nodded his head. "Well, it's better than being dead anyhow. I will have to put more effort into verifying what sort of threat we are facing. This one was in a cave, and it's not like Hawk can fly in and check it out, but I probably should have had him at least try to do a head count or something."

Doug patted him on the back. "Don't feel bad about it, lad. We knew it was going to be a hard fight, and we came out on top. There shouldn't be too many more fights like that during the mission, and with the practice and experience often comes breakthroughs.

I don't know what it is about practical experience, but it grows an Elite's powers faster than anything else. That's part of the reason that we keep volunteering to come help Bob all the time.

Did you know that back in the Academy, he wasn't considered anything special? He graduated as an Awakened warrior, and only made Ascended the year after.

Now, he's almost to Commander Rank, as we all are.

Just keeping at the training instead of letting our skills atrophy has done more for us than years in the Academy did. It's a lot further from Ascended to Commander than it is from Awakened to Ascended, after all."

The Cleric knew just how to set a mind at ease, and Karl nodded in agreement, which turned into a tired head bob that he barely caught before he nodded off.

Dinner was still on the way, and going to bed hungry would just make him sluggish if there was a fight in the middle of the night.

The meal was one of silently eaten ration packs, as creating food would take excess energy, and Doug was already exhausted.

"Hawk will keep watch with you. Hawk, wake up Rae before you sleep. I know everyone is wiped, so it will be better to have good night vision available all night." Karl whispered to the cleric before he nodded off.

"I will make sure we've got a good breakfast ready in the morning." Doug agreed before Karl's eyes closed, and he embraced sleep.