The trip to the cave took longer than Karl had expected, as the other group was on foot, but they still managed to make it there before dark, and got Remi to use a [Blizzard] to hide their tracks.

"That's some serious paranoia you have, you know that, right?" The other warrior in Doug's group asked.

"The Frost Giants are out here hunting for whoever blew up their Holy Relic, and given that we're the ones who did it, I thought it might be better if nothing could track us back to our sleeping spot.

But you will like this place, it's an old Dwarven Village, deep in the mountains, and it's got all the creature comforts. Or will once we have Rae set up a second fort with hammocks for you all." Karl explained.

Tori smiled. The hammocks were a wonderful thing.

Her mind briefly went to the muscled physiques of the men in her group, then she shook her head, dispelling those notions. She was here to work, and after that last fiasco, she had learned her lesson about leading her group members on.

No more flirting to get favourable treatment, it wasn't worth it.

This time, she was going to prove to a group that didn't know about her past indiscretions that she was truly worthy of her place on the team, and that she had the skills to make a name for herself as a combat Elite.

As they got settled in, Rae started to work, building up a second tent in the town for the second group, again arrayed around a pillar using Spider Silk at the Commander Rank anchored to the floor and wrapped around the stone pillar as the structure.

As they relaxed, the warrior, whose name Karl had learned was Harry Kim, began to dig through his pack for a dinner ration. The clerics burst into laughter, and the warrior stopped, confused as to what was so funny. It was definitely dinner time, and they might as well start cooking before it got dark.

Doug explained with a grand gesture at the two Priestesses. "We have not one, not two, but three clerics here, including a High Priest, who can all use advanced food creation spells. There will be no eating lousy ration packs in this camp. In fact, you might eat better here than you do at home."

Harry smiled and put the ration pack away. "Now that is good news. Me and Lao Tie, we're not used to eating ration packs, it would likely mess up our digestion for months. I eat almost all my meals at the office cafeteria, since they're free, and I only recently got the raise for my promotion to Ascended."

The High Priest chuckled and ran his fingers through his short beard. "It has been a season for promotions. I just made High Priest, Commander Karl was promoted in the last few months, Dana made Ascended recently as well. With you, that's almost half the group that has made a milestone right before the war."

Ophelia chuckled and raised her hand. "I made Ascended two weeks before we left, but I was only officially promoted at the end of term exams the next week."

Harry laughed. "I'm not sure if that makes me feel better or worse. Usually, the Ascended members are pencil pushers with a lot of involuntary experience, not promising students."

The ranger joined in the laughter and shook his head. "If I didn't know better, I would say that half of you were still in the second year. And before we get too far, my full name is Lao Tie, but please call me Ty."

"Well, I can say for certain that you are wrong, but not for the reason that you think." Doug joked.

Karl nodded. "Ophelia is in the second year, but Dana is in the first year."

Ty gave her an assessing look that narrowed, his black eyes almost looked closed. "First year and Ascended? What the hell were they thinking, even letting you out of the Academy, much less to a forward scouting team?"

Now both the MacKenzie brothers, and all of Karl's team, were laughing.

"Commander Karl is also a first year student. The monster of the Academy. Compared to sending him out, sending Miss Dana with him was a small thing." Bob finally explained.

Thor saw that as his opportunity. Everyone was laughing, that must mean they want to play, so he came out to bump up against Doug, begging for head pats.

"Who gave Thor a cloak? That is adorable." He asked as he reached under the hood to scratch between the Lightning Cerro's horns.

"It's cold outside, and it helps him blend in. I'm the one who cut the horn holes for the hood." Tessa replied with a soft smile for the happy Cerro.

Bob and Doug tag teamed Thor, showering him with attention as he pranced around happily. It was good to have happy people around again instead of serious people.

Ty stared at Thor for a few minutes, then turned to Karl. "That's a Commander Rank Lightning Cerro, isn't it? No wonder you've grown so powerful. How did you manage to bond a beast that strong?"

"He actually started as an Egg, as did the others. No, that's not a restriction of my class, just an oddity of fate. A combination of resources, combat experience and training made him into the Cerro that he is today."

Ty looked amused at the phrasing, but more intrigued by the mention of others. "They said that you had a Commander Rank beast. Was it actually more than one?"

"Three actually, and one more that's still at Ascended.

Thor you have already met, then there is Hawk, a Dragon Hawk, who does our scouting duties, Rae the Bloodbath Spider, who is our resident attack Golem Specialist, and Remi, a newborn Naga Spirit Snake, who is still at Ascended Rank."

The ranger nodded in understanding. "Now I see why they let you out of the Academy. The beasts need it, and with them, you might as well be with a full Commander Rank team, plus some extra support. How much trouble do you have with the Frost Giants? None of your team members are Giant sized, and only Thor is particularly durable."

"Against the five Commander teams, we are a bit slower than we are used to when fighting teams with only one Commander Rank Frost Giant, but we are still not in any real danger. With Thor's barrier over the whole team, plus the blessings of the Clerics, the Circle of Protection and the Golems from both Rae and Dana, we're actually at a reliable advantage."

Ty smiled. "In that case, I won't hesitate to call on your team if we find ourselves in a bind. Normally, it's considered bad manners to pull another team from their mission unless it's an emergency, but if you've got strength to spare, you will probably be able to finish up and come to us in time."

Rae headed back to her space for a short nap after she finished creating the second fort for the Mackenzie team, and the Clerics made their way to the fire pits to start cooking. Doug had a skill that created a small fire, and that was enough to control the cooking area, where they were happily scrubbing away centuries of dust and preparing the area for an elaborate meal.

It was going to be fairly late when they finished cooking, but neither team was rushing to head out in the morning. They would head out when they were good and ready, then hunt until mid-afternoon and return here. With the number of Frost Giants that Karl's team had reported, they wouldn't be short on targets, and they would be exhausted well before the sun went down.

"This is quite the fortification. How long do you think that we will be able to continue to use it?" Harry, the Ascended warrior with the Mackenzie brothers, asked, his ice blue eyes glinting with curiosity.

Bob shrugged. "For at least the next few weeks, unless the Frost Giants mount an offensive that puts the main battle line out of reach of it. I don't see them pushing the line that far back, especially now that their Holy Relic in the area is destroyed, but unless we can find another and destroy it as well, they are unlikely to retreat either.

So, it is a stalemate, and we just continue to wear them away and keep them from building up enough of a force to challenge the General."

Karl nodded. "We are almost certain that there are more locations like the one that exploded, most likely near the other main lines. But what we suspect is that we need to pull the cores of them together to be able to reverse the changes they have made.

Simply destroying them likely won't be enough. So, my team was planning to scout further, to try to find similar hiding spots near the other lines."

Bob smiled. "And with the two of us sharing a fort, we can cover for you when Command wants to know what your status is."