The First Legendary Beast Master

Karl watched as the hippos returned to their days, splashing in the water, napping in the mud, or idly snacking on the plants around the river.

At this rate, they weren't a threat to anything that Karl could see.

The question was if they would become a massive threat the moment that someone got near them. If they happened to get near a population centre, they could be real trouble with that defensive skill.

A small hippo was coming Karl's way, and this was the perfect moment to test his theories.

Both about their personality, and whether it was possible to lure some away without alerting the herd.

But when it got close, the creature gave him what Karl was certain was a goofy grin as it broke into a wobbly hopping run to come rub against his legs and sniff him for snacks.

[It's a fat baby Thor.] Rae laughed.

[With water magic.] Hawk agreed.

Karl rubbed the creature's head, and it made a happy noise that alerted other small hippos, who also came over.

That alerted the herd, which answered Karl's question.

One could be lured away, but if something happened to it, or if more than one or two were lured away, the herd would get defensive.

They didn't have their barrier up, but there was a whole group of adult hippos watching now, and they didn't look nearly as happy.

[You should bring out Lotus.] Cara suggested.

That was actually a brilliant idea. She had the perfect skill for this situation.

[If Not Friend, Why Friend Shaped?] was custom-made for meeting new species.

Cara brought the Priestess out, and Lotus gave a happy squeal that almost perfectly matched the baby hippos before pulling one into a hug around its thick neck.

"We can't be hunting these things, right? They're so cute." She pleaded.

"No, we're not going to hunt these. We're going to tell the others what I found, and then we're going to inform the people of Bral. The hippos are happy here at the river for now, and they're not aggressively hostile, though they are territorial."

"Can I keep it?"

Karl was about to shut Lotus down out of habit, then he actually considered it.

Was there any harm to borrowing a few to keep in the Tiny World? They had plenty of food, plenty of water. The question was whether they could safely separate any of them from the herd because he was quite sure that it wouldn't be wise to bring the entire herd.

"You'll have to ask its mother if you want to keep a baby hippo." He offered instead.

She had a skill that should keep them from attacking her, and he could rescue her if she set them off.

Lotus' face shifted to pure determination, and Karl saw the elder hippos give what looked like an amused huff.

Wait...

"Can you understand us?" He asked, looking directly at the large female.

The hippo nodded.

"Can the Green Dragon Priestess have a baby hippo?"

The creature gave him a look as if to say, "why are you asking me stupid questions? Obviously not," and Lotus shifted to her best pleading effort.

"What about an orphan? One without a mother? I will take wonderful care of it in your place."

The hippo shook her head and called the little ones back, which brought Lotus to her, as she was draped across the back of one.

The mother hippo shook her head, while Lotus tried pleading from a shorter distance, then gave up and went to play in the water with the little ones.

The mother hippo gave Karl an exasperated look, but he just shrugged at it.

Lotus was their problem now.

[Rae, can you explain the situation to the others? Let them know that the hippos can understand us, and that the whole damage situation was because they're a water element beast that was left in the grasslands.

Now that they're along the water, they're basically fine.

I will come to talk to the Prince in the Tiny World in an hour or so when Lotus starts to get tired.]

[I'm on it. The dragons say that they don't want to mess with a thousand mythic creatures who can share defensive spells anyhow.]

Smart dragons.

The baby hippos didn't last as long as Lotus did.

Half an hour later, they were tired and ready to lay down along the shore, which Lotus didn't object to, but the mother hippo did. She used her flat toothed mouth to pick Lotus up by her robes and carried her back to Karl, as if he was the guardian of this wayward Priestess.

"Alright, I will send her back to clean up and rest. If your herd is happy here, I will tell the dragons not to bother you.

But if you want a larger water area, there is a swamp region east of here, past a bunch of cities. Three rivers run together, and the ground is saturated with water." Karl explained, knowing that the creature should understand, even if it couldn't answer.

The hippo seemed to consider the offer, and Karl began to wonder if they actually liked grasslands and not swamps.

Slowly it nodded, as if to say "we will keep it in mind for later", and Karl took that as his cue to leave with a struggling Lotus dangling from his hand, eager to return to the baby hippos.

"If you're good, I will let you come back and play with them later. First, you need to clean up, and I will hold a meeting with the dragons to explain the situation." Karl informed her, before unceremoniously dropping the Priestess in the lake.

Button laughed as her playmate arrived, and came splashing in after her, while the group of Druids making lunch on the shore laughed and waved a greeting to Karl.

"We will make extra so that there is lunch for the dragons as well. They're mostly napping up on the mountain right now, but we can send someone to go get them." One of the cooks offered.

"No need. This is my Tiny World, I can make my voice heard anywhere in the space. I'll just call them all to the lake shore for a luncheon meeting in fifteen minutes."

The last part, Karl broadcast, and the dragons began to rouse from their naps.

They had been waiting for the fight to start.