Karl followed Hawk's directions to the pack of what turned out to be Yeti, which were essentially furry Orcs in Karl's mind. They were the same size, and though they didn't use weapons and preferred their claws and Ice Magic, they were on the same near human intelligence level.

The group of them stared down Karl as he approached alone out of the trees, then growled when he brought up [Refreshing Lightning] and [Flaming Body]. The Fire magic enraged them, and the pure gall of this human to think that he could take on an entire Yeti Clan on his own showed them that he did not respect them nearly enough.

But Karl wasn't alone, he was just the distraction, and the others had surrounded the group while he postured and wasted time.

[We're in place.] Rae informed him, and Karl launched into action.

His blade swatted away a flurry of ice bolts as the mages summoned their Golems, then Rend blocked the claws of the largest Yeti.

The beast was fast, blindingly fast with the swirl of snow and fog that surrounded it, making it hard for Karl to properly target as they traded strikes.

He saw an opening, and went in for the kill, driving his blade straight into the chest of the oversized beast. But the blade found no purchase, and the ice covered fur simply turned it aside with a cloud of steam as the clashing Elements fought for dominance.

The two of them were evenly matched in power, and the yeti's claws caused Karl's lightning barrier to flicker as it took advantage of his overextension.

The two of them moved back to regroup, completely focused on their own battle, while the other, weaker members of the Yeti Clan were handled by the others.

The Yeti's claws were surrounded by Ice Magic the same way that Karl did with Rend when he was fighting with claws, but against an opponent so much larger, it was better to use the two-handed blade. It could still throw attacks just fine, and he had the skill to use them without an actual weapon now.

But the Yeti was born to the power of Ice. It was no slouch in combat, and for a few minutes, neither of them could get through the other's defences.

The advantage changed as they fought, and Offensive Adaptation began to give Karl the edge, allowing him to reduce the power he was using in the fight, while the Yeti was getting tired. But the final decision was made by Rae, who finished her opponents and drove both sharp forelimbs through the back of the Yeti, impaling it through the heart and lungs, killing it before it even realized it had been ambushed.

[You were taking too long.] She complained.

All the other Yeti were dead, and the group had moved up to make certain they were within range of [Circle of Protection] in case something was attracted to the noise.

[Hawk, what do we have out there?] Karl asked.

[More big walking furry things. Once you get past the next hill, the mountains are all covered in snow, and they're scattered everywhere. I think they live in the caves.]

"Hawk says there are many more Yetis around, and that they're living in caves in the mountains." Karl explained to the group.

"That means this might be the spot. There shouldn't be Yeti here. There shouldn't even be snow here. But there is. I think that we will need to find a safe spot in the mountains and check for entrances to the caves tomorrow morning." Alice instructed.

They still had a lot of daylight left, which would give Hawk time to search for a safe spot for the evening.

[The black clothes people are fighting Yeti ahead on your left, then there are more Yetis coming from every direction except yours toward them.] Hawk informed him in a helpful tone.

"Hawk says that a fight between the Spellswords and the local beasts has attracted every Yeti for a few kilometres." Karl sighed.

"We should go help. If there are that many, it could spell trouble for them. They're here to challenge a beast above their level, not do a mass clearance of the monsters. That's closer to our mission, though our primary purpose is to look for opportunities." Alice agreed.

The way to the battle was clear, as everything was already headed their way, and Karl could hear the frantic battle, and feel the crackling of magic up ahead as the Spellswords fought.

"I will lead the way in, so they don't attack Thor and the others." He called back to the group.

Tessa climbed on Thor, and Rae grabbed Lotus, while Dana and Alice caught rides from Dana's Golems. It was the most energy- efficient way to travel for them, and it would get them to the battle much more quickly than walking.

When Karl arrived, he found that the commotion was focused around Larry and Darryl. They were similarly built, dark haired young men, though the Commander, Larry, was a solid decade older, and Darryl was still a student close to Karl's age. The pair were engaged in a desperate battle against five Ascended Rank Yeti, similar to the one that Karl had been fighting earlier.

The battle was not going well for them, and they were reduced to fighting back to back, despite Larry having a Rank advantage on the beasts.

"The Cerro and spider are mine. We're here to help." Karl called as he charged into the battle, activating the flames on his sword to distract the Yeti Clans.

Again, there didn't appear to be any females in the group, and what Lotus had said about the male monsters getting aggressive when there were no females around seemed to be true.

The monsters charged Karl, but with the experience he had from the first fight, he knew the easy way to get one over on them.

With the [Flaming Body] effect on his blade set to somewhat weak, Karl charged straight in. The weak attack would give the monster a false sense of superiority, and then at the last second, Karl launched [Shred] to break the ice barrier on the monster, before bringing the flames to full output and driving the blade deep into its chest.

He kicked the beast away from him, sending it flying with his blade in its chest, knocking two more of the Yeti over.

That took a lot of the pressure from the beleaguered Spellswords, who looked concerned that he had just kicked his blade across the battlefield.

Karl dismissed the blade and brought it back to his hands, refreshing the flames over it as he used Rend to block the next three attacks from the other beasts.

Thor was there now, and Rae's Golems, which meant that Lotus and the spider were somewhere nearby.

"Damn, it's good to see you. Can you get the clerics to treat Darryl? He's half paralyzed from the ice attacks, and he's too slow to fight properly." Larry asked.

Thor charged over with Tessa, knocking the last of the Yetis away from the magic warriors, and giving her a chance to dismount while he fought.

Tessa assessed the young mage. "I will take care of him, you help Thor. He's got a Circle of Protection active, and it should include you. But his attack power is lower than his defence."

The group moved to the middle of the clearing, while Karl and the Spider Golems forced the enemies back to give the mages time to recover and prepare for a drawn out battle.

Alice turned to the other Commander, and Larry frowned.

"I take it that you have bad news for me?" He asked before she could speak.

"All sorts of it. Your battle here attracted every monster for kilometres. Or perhaps something else in the area did, but they're all coming here. Don't burn through your mana too quickly, you'll need it soon." She warned.

"Is there any good news?" Larry asked, smiling in a way that said he knew they were in trouble.

"We've got five Golems to fight for us, a Circle of Protection, two clerics, and a Lightning Cerro, who regenerates stamina. That's the best that I can offer. Some of these beasts are a match for an Elite on the same level." Alice replied.

"Some of them are a match for an Elite above their level. I had trouble with a high Ascended Rank winged wolf earlier."

As if summoned, Lotus dropped down from the trees on a string of spider silk.

"Do you know what those things are? I didn't recognize them." She asked.

Larry shook his head. "No, I've never seen anything like them. But it's as good a name as any."