Reunions

Wentlas and the others sense a huge release of magic. They followed its source and found the four grants collapsed, badly beaten, and worn out. This is but a simple task for an S rank healer like Makro. The Council members carry them over to a nearby place where they plan on setting up camp. While the master healer looks over their wounds, tents and earth houses were being erected in preparation for the arrival of the reinforcements.

The first wave of adventurers arrives the same time as Tasha and Miss Juliette. The two scrambles to find the four party members. Tasha and Miss Juliette found them sleeping in a tent while Makro was looking over them. Tasha rushed towards the people she considered her friends and her family. Meanwhile, Makro and Mistress Juliette head outside to avoid being within earshot.

"Makro, it has been a while. It is good to see you. Though, I wish we met in much better circumstances. Can you brief me on the current situation?" Mistress Juliette asked.

"You have raised some brilliant and very promising children here, Julie." Greeted Makro. Miss Juliette smiles in response. Makro continues, "They somehow survived what I can tell is an encounter with no less that 100 kobolds. But those beasts were just the advance scouts for the stampede. According to Gil, the stampede is camping not two hours away from here and will arrive here tomorrow morning. We have to hold the line here in this gorge. If they pass the gorge, they can spread out or split up. With their numbers they can hit many different cities and towns bordering the Forlorn Forest. The neighboring cities and towns have been warned and are preparing their own resistance and counter attacks. They have also sent some reinforcements but they won't arrive until tomorrow midday."

"I'm glad that we caught the stampede early. We are more prepared than the last time." Mistress Juliette thought aloud.

"Yes. By the time we found out about it, they were already a day away from Kauven and some of them have already started to peel off to attack nearby towns. We lost so many because we were ill-prepared." replied Makro.

"I thought we had spies in the Beast Kingdom precisely to warn us from yet another stampede." she said matter of factly.

"You are right. As you well know, the Forlorn Forest is the boundary between the human kingdom of Dearth and the Beast Nation. After the last stampede, we inserted sleeper cells in the Beast Nation in anticipation for something like this. But it's not unusual to not hear from them for years on end. Still, it doesn't explain how we didn't get a heads up on this." he states.

"It is safe to assume that they are probably dead. The Beast Nation has always wanted to expand North. Kauven is the only thing that stands in its way. If the city falls, they could easily march up the royal highway to the Capital, decimating the smaller cities and towns along the way. The Forlorn Forest has foiled their plans due to its mystical energies interfering with technology but this also means our protective interventions don't work in the forest as well. " she said coldly.

"Come join the council. You know there is always as place there for you." he offers.

"This new stampede will leave more children needing a place to call home. I am needed there." she replies with a smile.

"Sigh, we have seen far too much blood and death. You and I. I fear that we will have to shed more before long." he somberly adds. They were quiet for a while.

The two walk in silence towards the Headquarter tent where the other Council members are assessing the situation. Rouge type adventurers have been sent to do reconnaissance of the beast camp. Through the night, more adventurers arrive.

With nothing to do but recover for the night, Forlorn's Hope spent the night catching up on the day they spent apart. All of them have leveled up due to how eventful the day was been. Tasha leveled up 7 times due to continually casting Wind speed for hours on end. From their kills; Ellie, Bryce, and Terrick leveled up 11, 8, and 12 times respectively. Meanwhile, Althea leveled up 10 times from the kobolds and 8 times from healing Terrick. This made the group realize that they are acquiring EXP as long as they were using their skills and, even more, so if what they are doing uses up a lot of mana. This strategy isn't really ideal during combat since emptying your mana bank is equivalent to not being able to fight or protect yourself. Mana depletion causes loss of consciousness.

Althea has been feeling surges of power since she has broken through this afternoon. What she didn't know was that her body has been changing to accommodate the mana she has absorbed during the granting. Her breakthrough finally allowed her to gain access to this well of power. All the elements seem so much more accessible. Her magic seems more potent and easier to control. Though, she doubts that she can recreate the feat she did earlier. Casting multiple spells is not unheard of, but multi-casting spells of multiple elements is a feat she wasn't sure was even possible until she did it. On top of that, she is only 2 levels away from reaching B rank. Her spells have been getting more powerful, being able to cast more formidable versions of them.

Bryce has been quiet. He is bothered by the fact that he found satisfaction in killing the escaping kobold. Having followed the beast separated him from the group and that almost caused them their lives. If he didn't flicker back in time, this could have ended up differently. His Dark powers are amazing but he can't afford to be overconfident. He should have checked to see if Terrick's cage had a magic jammer. He should have realized that the kobolds, being an intelligent and powerful race would obviously have magicians with them. Tomorrow they will face the stampede. There is no room for these kinds of mistakes. He could hurt his friends, the people he cares about, and Althea. He will not be like his parents. He couldn't sleep so he went outside to try to level up some more.

None of them really slept that night. Each one lost in their own thoughts, except Terrick. He was snoring loudly.