The First Legendary Beast Master

Chapter 364  Battered But Not Beaten

The demise of the traitors marked the end of the Hill Giant forceʼs plans, and they began to back away from the attacking force, disengaging from combat before those further down the line began to retreat out of artillery range.

That was good enough to call it a win for Karl, so he just waited for the Hill Giants to run away as he did his best to absorb the massive influx of life force that his blade was giving him. It merged smoothly with the power cores in the spaces, and they were quickly coming to a peak again, but there was more power coming in, so he was going to have to spread it through the spaces soon, and start reforming the cores once more to continue the process. They had to be getting close to peak Commander now, with Rae advancing her species traits to Royal Rank, but Karl couldnʼt feel the bottleneck that he knew was coming when he reached the peak and had to learn how to adjust his power to Royal Rank.

Once the Hill Giants were a safe distance away, Karl made his way back to the group and took out his Maul to open a new hole in the wall. They would have to do something about that eventually, as the next group of Hill Giants to arrive would also take shelter behind it.

That wasnʼt Karlʼs problem, the Academy had Earth Mages as well, and they could disassemble the wall with ease once nothing was protecting it and the magic barriers had faded.

With the battle over, Tessa and Thor began the work of looting the good bits, as did many of the others who were in suitable shape for some scavenging. Loot was loot, and the group was loading Thorʼs bags with anything magical.

By the time that Karl made it to the line, most of the fallen had been brought back to life, and only one body bag was being carried away on a stretcher. It wasnʼt one of the team members that Karl knew, which was a small blessing, but a lot of the attack team were looking even worse than he was.

They slowly made their way back to the line, moving at the speed of an exhausted mage. It was the only pace where nobody was left behind, as many of them were supporting each other while the healing spells worked their magic.

Healing magic closed wounds quickly, healed muscles and bones more slowly, but the aches and pains usually lingered.

If they really wanted, the clerics could heal a body full of broken bones in a second, but the mana requirement was extreme, and as Karl understood it, the healed body often suffered from lingering trauma and phantom pains that were more severe than if it were healed more slowly.

So, it was sometimes necessary to save a life, but they did their best to avoid it.

As they approached the Academy defensive line, all of the students and the reserve soldiers who had been called up stood to salute the returning Elites.

Nobody had expected that fight to go even remotely well, but still, they had volunteered.

The Headmaster himself came up to welcome them back and check everyone for damage, to assure himself that they were fit to continue their duties.

”Welcome back, everyone. You have the rest of the day off, so go get something to eat and some rest to let those freshly healed wounds settle.” He greeted them.

”Thank you, Headmaster. We could use both. Plus an armourer with magical repair skills. Iʼm told that my gear can be fixed, even in this bad of shape.” Karl replied.

”Well, that bad of shape might be more than most can hope to fix, but we will get someone on it right away. All of you are in need of repairs, and bondable equipment is in short supply these days.”

As they were talking, Generals Stonewall and Jackson came jogging over, looking positively overjoyed at the outcome.

”Commanders, Ascended Elites, wonderful work out there. You have defied every expectation that we had for your abilities.” General Jackson announced the moment he arrived.

”General Jackson, itʼs good to see you again. The Elites really did work wonders today, especially the healers. But we should get some food in us before we start answering your questions. I know that you must have a lot of them for us.” Karl offered.

The Generals paused as they took in the battered state of the Elites and nodded silently.

”Please, forgive our enthusiasm. We are having a proper meal prepared now that the trailers have arrived, and the butchering is well underway.”