The First Legendary Beast Master

As they approached the next village, a beast that could make a run for the title of mother of all Crocolisks emerged from swamp waters that were clearly too shallow to have hidden its body.

Compared to the ten-metre bodies that Hawk reported for the others, this one was easily twice that length, and carried a long lifetime of battle scars on its body. A perfect accompaniment to its Totem Rank status.

Then, dozens of snarling beasts emerged from the swamp to surround Karl's group, and Cara began to cheer from her perch on Karl's shoulder.

He had totally forgotten that she was still there, reduced in size to more easily spectate.

Karl called on the Haint along with his sword, but didn't merge with the weapon yet. Having the Haint and the Epic Guard surround the massive beast would be more effective than adding a bit more damage to himself.

Lotus giggled as the Haint began to splash her feet happily in the water, glad to be out of storage.

The beasts briefly paused as golems and bodyguards were called out, and the enemy numbers increased. But only for a few seconds before they launched their attack.

The Crocolisk Matriarch was surprisingly fast, but physically outmatched.

Its first strike began with its massive maw opened around Karl, who landed a punch on its nose and stopped its forward momentum before aiming a swing at its neck, leaving a shallow gouge across its throat as the creature retreated.

Cunning eyes stared at Karl, assessing his abilities.

If it couldn't simply overpower him, this would not be an easy fight. But not one that it didn't believe there was a chance to win.

A massive Swamp Shambler, a mud and vine construct made of the swamp itself, rose from the shallow water and lashed out at Karl with a club as the Crocolisk Matriarch moved to attack his unarmed side.

Karl sidestepped the attack before being distracted by the sound of a monster to his left howling in pain and frustration.

Cara had her garotte wire out again, but she wasn't using [Void Blast] on it.

She was standing on the back of a Crocolisk, one hand on the thread and riding it like a rodeo bull as the creature thrashed and flailed wildly, trying to dislodge her.

Whatever. She would take care of it when she was done.

The Haint knocked the Crocolisk Matriarch up on its hind legs with [Force Slam], and the Lamia duo attacked its belly, which was much less armoured than its top side.

Karl parried the club of the Swamp Shambler, then hit it with a [Nullify] spell that caused the golem to disintegrate into a pile of mud and vines.

The Matriarch twisted impossibly fast and bit one of the Lamia, nearly biting the unfortunate creature in half, but getting attacked on the inside of its mouth for its trouble.

The pain made it retreat, and the Lamia began to regenerate rapidly. Black mist surrounded its body as Lamia blood stained the murky swamp water deep red.

Only a few seconds later, it was ready to fight again, and the Crocolisk Matriarch still hadn't found another opening to attack past the Haint and the other Lamia.

Karl switched to his bow and put a [Void Blast] arrow into the creature's side, blasting away a half metre divot of flesh and scales.

The Matriarch howled in pain and frustration, then bellowed an order at the other Crocolisks before sinking into the mud.

[It's fifty metres below us. Hiding in the deep earth until we go away.] Tian informed Karl.

[Should we dig it out?] Karl asked.

[That would be hard. Its earth magic is as good as mine, and it will just start running away if we try.] Tian sighed.

Splashing announced the departure of the rest of the Crocolisk tribe, leaving only one defeated looking specimen, with Cara still standing on his back. The creature gave Karl a pleading look, while Cara looked immensely proud of herself.

She had tamed a Crocolisk for riding.

Sort of.

The moment that anything else got near it, the creature attacked. But it had given up on trying to get Cara dislodged, as the Chaos Badger wasn't actually harming it.

"You can't keep it." Karl informed her in a dry tone.

[Fine, fine.] Cara replied, then hopped off the creature and activated [Void Blast], aimed at its backside, to chase the Crocolisk off into the swamp.

They were dangerous monsters, but they were native to the swamps, and nobody saw much of a reason to eliminate them all.

They had taken down more than half of the tribe during this attack, leaving over a dozen bodies in the water in under two minutes. That was enough to appease the Black Dragon's need for balance, and it should reduce the Crocolisk Tribe's need for food, and the resultant attacks on the Naga villages.

"Do those count as beasts for your Golem summoning?" Lotus asked once the fight was definitely over.

Karl checked his summoning options, and then called a pair of Totem Rank Crocolisks out. They were only slightly larger than the Overlords, not nearly as impressive as the Matriarch, which was a higher level magical beast, and not an option for the Golem spell.

Lotus smiled and climbed up the Golem's leg to sit on its back between the ridges.

"Crocolisks are excellent swamp transports. They can walk on soft mud and swim very well." She declared.

Cara took a spot on the other one, sitting upright in the same position that Lotus was, and Karl chuckled in amusement. They had been giving each other strange ideas again.

"Are we ready to move out again?" Tessa asked from Thor's back.

The village was only a kilometre away, and they were watching the group from the walls, ready in case the team of strangers wasn't any more friendly to Naga than they were to the beasts of the swamp.

An enemy of your enemy wasn't always your friend.

"Let Remi lead the group again. They'll likely respond better to her than to anyone else." Karl agreed.