Tessa held out her hand for the books and quickly flipped the first one open. Her eyes shone red as they transformed to the slotted eyes of a Dragon, and an oppressive feeling filled the air. That would be [Terrorize] working for her, but no matter how she tried, the [Brutality] book would not open for her.

The next to try was Lotus, who had high hopes as a Nature Priestess who really loved animals. But no matter what she tried, including putting Remi on her shoulders, she couldn't get either book to open for her.

The same went for Doug, who was unable to get either of the spells to work. But the moment that the Druid touched them in Owlbear form, he instantly enlarged and keened a proud cry that was eerily similar to Hawk.

[He says, 'fuck yes, it worked.'] Hawk relayed.

[Tell him congratulations.] Karl instructed, and Hawk screeched a reply that startled the Druid.

He pointed at Hawk in shock, and then the two had a brief conversation of shrieks that would have annoyed anyone with ears if it weren't so funny to see.

"Now that we have established that Owlbears really do speak the same language as Dragonhawks, let's move on." The Inscriptionist announced with a pained look.

All around the room they tried, even having the Berserkers Rage to try to get the skill, but only those with an animalistic transformation managed to get the [Berserk Terror] transformation that Ophelia, Tank and the Druid had accomplished.

"Well, at least it isn't as bad as the other one. We are going to pass these out all down the lines today, and hopefully, we can get another dozen or so Berserkers and Druids educated." Karl chuckled at his optimism, but Doug thought it might be possible. "You should also look for the clerics who have transformations, especially the white robes and the nature priests. Many of them have an animal based sensory spell that will partially transform them, but neither of us here have learned that sort of blessing."

General Stonewall looked at Wolfe before he could turn to leave, and raised an eyebrow in a curious expression.

"What was your plan if there had been Royal Rank attackers hidden among the Hill Giants." He asked.

"Have you ever stepped on a ketchup packet?" Karl replied. "It would go something like that."

The Berserkers laughed as Karl turned to leave, but he could swear he actually felt Morgana rolling her eyes at him.

He walked out to get the clerics to fix his gear in the fort, but as Karl left the mess hall, he heard the General ask the real question. "But for which side?"

The fort was quiet as everyone sorted out their armour after putting it into storage to remove the filth and then taking it back out, but not equipped.

"Do you think that Rae really did advance? She vanished in the middle of the fight, and we could hardly see her. It was like she became a screen projecting the surrounding scenery, and she just vanished until you touched her." Lotus asked as she started to mend the leather on Dana's armour.

Karl shook his head. "Not yet, but very soon. She's already advanced at least one of her Innate Skills, so it won't be far. I think she just needs a bit of time to finish adapting, and she will be there."

"What about the others?" Lotus asked.

"Well, Hawk and Thor are both close, but I'm not certain how easy their potential is going to make the process. Remi still needs some time to grow. Royal Rank is likely going to be an evolutionary bottleneck for her, so she might get stuck for a moment." Karl shrugged as he lay the last of his armour flat to assess the damage.

It looked even worse now, laid out on the floor, than it had when he was wearing it.

Tessa sighed as she looked at the torn chain links and steel plates torn into pieces.

"You really did a number on this suit, didn't you? How did you manage to get through a battle without any major injuries when your entire armour set is Swiss cheese?" She asked as she started to work.

"I've been thinking about that, and I've realized that it's an issue with my technique. You see, [Flaming Body] prefers to keep tight to my skin, except where it's extended over my weapon. But that means that it's under my armour and only [Refreshing Lightning] is over the top.

So Thor's barrier takes the first round of damage, the armour takes the second, and the Flaming Body barrier is the third. So I didn't take too many serious wounds, but the armour took a beating.

It's just how the spell wants to work, so I didn't think much of it, as I normally use it more for offence than defence." Karl explained.

"How does your weapon look?" Tessa asked.

Karl took it out, and noticed that the broad blade looked much better polished and with fewer imperfections than he remembered it. The blade's inscription said it was intended to absorb the life force of defeated opponents to grow the power of its wielder, to make them a Champion of their people, but it appeared that the blade itself grew with them, so they didn't discard it along the way.

Not that it would let Karl easily discard it, with the way that it kept rejecting every other bladed weapon he touched.

"It looks pristine to me. The weapon is a bit special, so I don't think that I need to worry much about pitting in the edge or cracks." Karl noted.

Tessa gave it a cursory look, then nodded and gave it back.

"Yeah, it looks like it survived the battle much better than your armour did. This will take a bit, and there is a leather backing, so I will have to pass it to Lotus once she's finished."

"Well, I had Thor drop a load of gear at the base of the trees, so if mine is too messed up I can try to bond something from the Hill Giants. The Gauntlets have a particularly good strength enchantment, though, if we can fix those." Karl offered.

"Right, there is loot and spare parts below the tree. Go look for a chest plate that will bond to you, and I should be able to get the rest done in the next hour or two. Nobody else's gear is this mangled, and I barely even took damage, so mine is all still serviceable. I will fix it last, so we have everyone operational at the very least." Tessa replied.

Karl climbed down the ladder to check the piles that Thor had placed at the bottom of the trees. They would have someone come clean them up later, but for now there was a lot to pick through. The Hill Giants also wore better equipment than the Frost Giants did, as they used Earth Magic, and could easily make their own metal plate armour. Not much of it was actually enchanted, but the pieces that were enchanted tended to be fairly good quality, even if most of them were so large that it was a pain for even Thor to bring them back here.