The First Legendary Beast Master

"Your Highness, would you like to fly directly to Bral with me? We can let the others rest a bit longer, and descend when we see the herd." Karl suggested.

"Unfortunately, I have been requested to attend a luncheon with the Nature Priestess and a whelpling named Button.

I really do need to speak to that girl's parents. Who names a dragon Button?"

Cara laughed, while Rae just shrugged. "She's a forest dragon, they're all hippies."

"Still, it's like naming your child Flower, or Petal."

[Or Opal.] Cara joked.

The butterfly's exasperation was clear through the link.

[Opal is the perfect name. Look at my wings, what do they look like?]

Tian nodded. [She has a point. Her wings look like opals, but transparent. Plus, she's Karl's daughter, so Opal Karlsdotter is the perfect name for her.

Wait, does that make me Tian Karlson? Do I actually need two names?]

[Pretty sure it's optional. I don't use one, Thor doesn't use one. Rae picked one of her own.] Cara informed him.

[Oh, that's a relief. The two just didn't go together.]

"Well, if you're going to a luncheon, I will let the beasts return to their space, and I will make the flight alone. That might actually be an advantage, as I will more easily be able to sneak up on the monsters than a whole wing of dragons." Karl decided.

"You know that you're huge, right? A Mythic World Dragon isn't sneaking up on anything capable of looking up."

"Hey, I'm capable of being stealthy. I can transform into a Tengu and fly." Karl countered.

He could also fly in cat demon form, but that was an entirely different skill.

Prince Nathan sighed. "Whatever you think is best. It's a cloudy day, so you could likely get away with staying a dragon, as long as you have a way to see through the cloud cover."

"That I do. If there are mythic beasts beneath me, I won't miss them, no matter how high I am flying.

Go ahead and attend your luncheon, I will call for everyone when I am there."

Rae took the Prince back to the Tiny World, while Cara and Tian finished their breakfast, then switched locations to get a second breakfast out of Lotus.

It really was worth taking the night watch sometimes.

The pair of dragons shook their heads in dismay. "What a pair. That little fox is so young, but the amount of holy magic that he radiates is astounding."

"He's growing exceptionally well, I agree. I just worry that his power is getting ahead of his body. He's still only half grown, but he's so far through the Mythic Rank. The Stonefur Divine Fox isn't meant to reach the peak of Mythic Rank until they are adults." Karl agreed.

The dragon shrugged. "It's the same with prodigies in the dragon species. They grow faster in power than they rightfully should, but it won't harm them. They eventually reach a bottleneck and their growth slows until their body can keep up."

But really, Karl was more concerned about what would happen when someone reached the Immortal Rank. Both Rae and Cara had complete, or close to complete, understandings of a Fundamental Rule. If their bodies reached the bottleneck, it was entirely possible that they would trigger the Immortal Rank tribulation without warning.

"Good luck gentlemen, I will head out as soon as I reach the edge of the city." Karl offered.

"Not going to just fly from here?"

Karl shrugged. "I could fly up and then transform, but there isn't space for me to shift into dragon form in the street."

The pair nodded, assuming that his cat demon form was a disguise to hide his true age, and turned to follow him to the edge of the city.

"I hear that the Darklight Host is intending to make friends all over the western islands this trip. Any particular reason?"

Now they were on to the important questions, once they could make them sound more like idle chat than an interrogation.

"We were thinking of having a new branch house founded by some of our higher ranked craftsmen. If we transferred a few totems and a Myth to a new Guild House, they could establish a presence on the western islands for trade, and recruit more craftsmen.

Our Drodh Guild House is getting quite full, you see, and Zilaz isn't a true Guild House, just an Alliance House that doesn't grant additional members, even if it allows Guild Bank access from a greater distance." Karl explained.

"That would certainly be a welcome change for whatever city you set up in.

We've seen what your craftsmen are capable of, and we would welcome them anywhere in Gathuzan."

Karl nodded. "I thought as much. Mostly, the decision will be on the craftsmen that we transfer, but I have a few places in Gathuzan that I would recommend that they consider.

Who knows, if our next stop is an interesting one, it might also be a spot for them to consider."

The soldiers laughed. "That is if you can convince the hippos to go away. That one was the strangest invasion ever, but the damage they're doing to the plant life while trying to get enough sustenance for such large herbivores is really concerning the local guards.

Not that they would trade it for the hippos assaulting their walls, but they still need to eat."

"Do they at least taste good?"

The dragon shrugged. "You'll have to ask them. I think they've mostly been on a live and let live policy, so I'm not certain whether anyone has even tried it yet.

Some of the mythic beasts are surprisingly tasty, though. The frog legs have been a huge hit everywhere that got them."

That they were. Drodh was loving them, as were the warriors from Zilaz who had come to help out during the battle.

Even with a bounty on them, most had chosen to keep at least a few for themselves, just for the sake of stocking their Guild's freezer.