The old woman gave Wolfe a toothless grin.
"I guess so Demons do have a sense of propriety. I'll just be thankful that you stopped off here first and didn't go straight to the big city and et the Grand Dutchies first. Good work there, by the way. We're glad to have so many fine people join our little village. Especially the n."
"Oh, did you take a fancy to one of them yourself? Or perhaps one of your granddaughters did?" Wolfe joked.
The old woman's smile never changed, but one of the younger won blushed a rather bright shade of red.
"Oh, so that's how it is. Congratulations. I will have to see if I can send sothing your way for the wedding. When is it planned?" Wolfe teased.
"They were arranged partners since they were children. But now that they're both back in the village, there is no reason that I have to wait for great-grandchildren anymore." The Elder declared happily.
If it were possible to die of embarrassnt, the young Witch certainly would have done it at that very instant, but everyone else from the village was happy for her, and they seed to know all about her and her husband-to-be.
"The beast is a valuable one and another Rank Two magical creature. That's sowhat disturbing. There shouldn't have been so many of them getting through the lines. Do you think that there is sothing that is helping them advance?" The other young witch asked.
"There were multiple breaches, but I've been seeing a rather disturbing number of powerful beasts lately. Is it possible that they were gathered sowhere remote in the Morgana Territory and were just forced out over the course of this winter?" Wolfe asked.
The Elder frowned and tapped her fingers on her walking staff as she considered the idea.
"I think it is possible. Unlike the other Covens, Morgana has such thick woods and jungles that we can't easily search them for threats. It is possible that all of the construction that has been done in the Swampland Regions has driven beasts out into the forest looking for prey.
None of them would be native to the Swamps; they would have arrived during previous Monster Tides, but I wouldn't deny the fact that our increased activity might have run off their usual prey." She slowly agreed.
"We will ntion it to every other village that we pass on our way back up to the Frozen Wastes. It is essential that they know that a threat might be lurking in the woods and waiting for them to be off guard for even an instant.
There was a Rank Three Dire Wolf, leading a mostly Rank Two pack, that we encountered closer to the Academy. I'm not sure how many villages would have stood up to that sort of assault, even with the military equipnt.
But then, I haven't seen how the Null Stone bullets work against magical beasts, so perhaps you wouldn't have too hard of a ti with it now that you've got reinforcents." Wolfe inford her.
The guards flinched at the ntion and shook their heads.
"They work better than nothing, but even most of the Rank Two beasts have hide so tough that the bullets in our rifles barely penetrate, and we have to shoot them dozens of tis. I've never seen a Rank Three beast, but I am absolutely certain that I do not want to." The closer of the two n on gate duty today replied.
The Elder nodded in agreent. "Even the magical blades that we give our guardians don't do much. I know you bought one of them from us. Tell , how did it fare against the Rank Three beast? Or did you just use your own spells?"
Wolfe shook his head. "I had to fight it up close the first ti, and the enchantnt on the blade did nothing but make it angry and give it a haircut. I had to supplent with my own magic, and that was a challenge.
Honestly, one on one, a Rank Three beast is close to my match unless I've prepared for combat. They're so fast it's nearly impossible for to get a spell off, so I just get put on the defensive until I get a breather and can cast so larger spells."
"But you can beat it with your magic, right?" The Elder asked.
"Yes, of course. I've upgraded the sword that you sold , so next ti, I won't be in such an annoying position, but a lot of the trick to fighting a fast monster like that is numbers. You need to keep them off the strongest spell casters, and either a precast barrier or a team of Guardians is what you need for the job.
Well, I suppose that if I were flying when the fight started, I would have had an easier ti of it. Maybe I should start carrying around a flight staff so that I could instantly cast the spells I need to get out of close combat range."
That made Ella giggle. "Oh, and switch to so Druid Robes, like a forest hermit. It will totally sh with the uniforms that the patrol teams in the Fae Forest wear."
The young Witch, whose groom had just returned, gave her a confused look. "Fae Forest uniforms? What has been going on in the Frozen Wastes over the course of this winter?"
"Perhaps we should finish dealing with the beast. It had been eating people when I found it, so the guards are sending a team to do a recovery and cleanup of the area, but we also need to have a nice long discussion about what my people have been doing in the Frozen Wastes, and how it can benefit everyone.
I promise you it can be a very good deal. Not only do I have so skills of my own, but we have multiple Rank Two Witches in the village, and we've worked a deal with Headmistress Peach to get so well-trained Professors for our students so we can have them co up with solutions to an extrely wide variety of problems."
Ella poked him in the side. "You should likely also ntion that we have magical airplanes, so we can deliver orders here in a reasonable ti, without all the delay and danger of walking for days. So, if we co to an agreent, you can be sure that your orders will arrive."
"Now you have my attention. Please, follow inside and we can have a cup of tea."
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