The First Legendary Beast Master

The Trial faded as the last of the choices were made, and Karl found himself standing on the roof of the Temple, surrounded by dozens of Dwarven Clerics.

Then, the rest of the group appeared around them, both Karl's teammates and the Totem Ranked Dwarves they had brought.

"Did everyone get what they came for?" Karl asked, looking directly at Lotus, who was the most likely to have flaked out.

The little cleric gave him two thumbs up.

"I got the perfect new spell from my new class. I shall be unstoppable." Lotus declared proudly.

"In combat, or while searching for friends and snacks?" Tessa asked seriously.

"The second one." Lotus replied, not at all concerned that she wasn't aligned with her friend's priorities.

Karl turned to Dana, who beamed a smile at him. "I got the Mystic Blademaster Class, with auto-parry and increased attack speed. Very combat focused, and it will buff my Golems blade skills as well."

"Oh, very nice. I will have to see if I can find another Golem type spell that will work for you. Like Ahmad, the more Golems you have, the better." Karl agreed.

Beside them, a Dwarven Cleric cleared his throat. "If you don't mind cutting the reunion short, there are still some Ogres in the city to take care of, and we are hoping to get the remaining Totems into the portal before it closes."

That made sense. The primary advantage to the trial was the ability to upgrade a class. Most of the Dwarves still had the one that they got as children, and they would have long since capped them out by the time that they reached Totem Rank.

Most of them would have had enough Skill Points to get the whole Skill Tree by somewhere in the Royal Rank at the latest.

"Alright, we can take this group to try out their new skills, and relieve the others. As long as we don't kill the last Ogre before the Totems are all in the trial, there is only a small chance that they won't all be able to try." Karl agreed.

Usually, the trial or dungeon would stabilize for a period of time after the monsters were gone, but this one was stable enough to enter now. So, if they got everyone in before the state changed, then they could let the rest of the population argue about who went next afterwards.

It was a good system, as everyone with power would be available to mediate, and they wouldn't have much personal interest in the outcome.

There were sure to be some conflicts of interest. Family members, staff, old friends. But those were normal and expected. With so many there, and in public, it would be hard to push for an exception without raising the ire of the people.

One after another, the group hopped down from the roof of the Temple, with Lotus opening her arms to throw herself at Karl. He caught the much smaller cleric, then spun her in a circle before setting her on the ground.

"Alright, we're all here. Let's go find some Ogres."

Dana moved her Golems to run at the front of the pack, an odd tactical choice, if she had not just gained a new defensive skill for them which may enable them to survive against the Ogres.

How well it would work was questionable, as they were still bound by their own physical limits, but they would find out soon enough.

The first battle was only a few blocks away, and with Karl's entire group, plus two more Totems, the fight would not take long.

The other Totems had spread out in pairs, intending to form a trio when they found the other defenders, and then relieve them, so the other could go to the Trial.

The Golems engaged a pair of Ogres who were fighting with a Dwarven Warrior, who had a large group of children behind him, rescued from a destroyed building.

Steel rang against hardwood as the Golems parried the first attacks, marking the longest that they had survived against a Totem Ranked threat so far.

"Warrior, take the children to the Temple. There is a trial there, and you need to enter it as soon as possible." Karl instructed as the other Dwarves ran up behind them, cursing their short legs.

The newly arrived pair of Totem Ranked warriors nodded, and the rescued warrior left immediately with his young charges.

Karl took out the Blade of Champions and the Haint Claw, and charged one of the Ogres.

"Dana, have your Golems tag team the other, see how they do." He instructed.

One on one was too much to ask, but if they could back each other up, they might actually survive a little while with a two Rank disadvantage.

Karl knocked the Ogre's club to the side, and the giant monster lashed out with its other fist.

Karl punched to intercept the strike, with [Void Blast] on his hand.

Two booms in rapid succession shook the already damaged buildings, and sent out a shockwave that cracked one dilapidated wall.

But the match was not equal.

Karl was stronger now, and [Void Blast] mangled the Ogre's hand.

The other matchup didn't go nearly as well for the defenders. The Ogre knew just how to deal with [Auto Parry]. It put both hands on the club and simply smashed it down on the Golem's head.

The mismatch in strength was too high, and while the club was slightly deflected, the force shattered the Golem's arms and then crushed the entire right side of its body.

There was still one more Golem, though.

It might not be a lot of defence against the Ogre, but it was enough time for everyone to get in position, including Cara, who had a new technique for dealing with the Ogres. Just like the Dwarves were doing, she went straight for the back of the knees, then tied their ankles together with the chunk of silk rope that she had been using as a garotte wire.

When the Ogre tried to move, it collapsed and left itself vulnerable to Karl's attacks.

Between Karl, Cara and a few hits from one of the Dwarves, the fallen Ogre was finished in under a minute, only seconds ahead of the one that the rest of the group was focused on.