The First Legendary Beast Master

Karl considered it. He knew what Supreme Lady Matilda looked like well enough. It was hard to forget the visual impact that a massive, Supreme Ranked Chaos dragon made.

Plus, Cara wasn't wrong. Chaos did follow them around like an eager puppy, somehow just showing up everywhere that he went.

So, Supreme Lady Matilda's face was the one that he envisioned as he arranged the stars for the array. But only after he finished did he realize just how specific that image was. Unlike most draconic heads, Matilda wasn't symmetrical. She had two horns on one side and only one on the other.

So, when Karl arranged the stars to represent her, they weren't the same sort of perfectly balanced image that was portrayed in the diagram.

However, they felt right, and the flow of soul power through the array was vastly increased over the five pointed star. Whether that was as much as a Monk was supposed to get from the array was something that Karl had no reference for, but going by the impressed look that the white dragon was giving him, it shouldn't be too bad.

"Alright, I have finished visualizing the dragon's head, and organizing the focal points in my mind. Do you think that is far enough, or should I keep working on the others?" Karl asked.

Avatar Joel chuckled. "Just the fact that you managed to arrange nine points in under a day is a monstrous feat. Many Monks take years to get to that point, and some never move past it, due to lacking mental fortitude.

How much pain are you in, on a scale of one to ten? The arrangement can take a rather heavy toll on the mind."

Karl shrugged. "I'm good. I heal fast, and my head feels fine."

The dragon nodded in satisfaction, and cast a spell that settled over Karl, but didn't appear to change his body, so it was most likely for monitoring something that the dragon couldn't see directly.

"Not bad. Transformation speed is solid, you have a good grasp on the appearance of the dragon for your focal points. Tell me, what do your focal stars look like?" Joel asked, his wrinkled face creasing with excitement.

"Golden dragon scales. They glow softly, but I used that instead of the simple candle flame that was suggested during my basic training." Karl explained.

"Oh, that would explain things. Using dragon scales as a focal point would make this part of the process much easier. Now, soul strength isn't a major factor for you yet, but it will be. It matters in the Totem Rank advancement, and the Mythic Advancement, but at the Immortal threshold, there is nothing more important.

All Immortals have to undergo a tribulation, and while it is partially a test of power, it is mostly a test of Soul integrity and mental fortitude. The mind normally shatters long before the body, and then the failed progression will be the last attempt that they ever make." The white dragon explained.

"Well, at least I've got an advantage when I make it to that point, now I just need to make it through two more Ranks, and I'm home free, right?" Karl joked.

The two dragons laughed. "You make it sound so easy. But who knows, perhaps for you, it will be. Especially now. We will have to see how you do in an actual battle, but my guess is that you won't be losing any mental battles in the near future."

Karl smiled at the pair. "I don't intend to lose many battles of any sort in the near future. But how are things outside? How long was I out of it?"

Delilah shrugged. "All night. It's almost morning now. The locals were surprisingly understanding about the situation, and your overload, which they took as an attack by the enemy mages.

Having a healing station on site helped their mood considerably.

Everyone else is in the fort, as they didn't want to interrupt your progress in here, or risk injury. If you're settled enough, you can go let them know."

Karl nodded. "I will let them know that they can come in. I'm sure that someone will want to sun themselves on the beach, or the cliffs."

Delilah laughed. "That's not a bad idea. I will be here for the afternoon. The Undead are not showing any signs of attacking, according to the other clerics in the area."

While Karl had spent the day recovering, and the team had spent the day helping with the wounded, all over Drodh and Bomgon, the System was undergoing a subtle shift.

More residents were getting fully active systems, with features silently appearing to anyone who checked, and many youngsters were gaining system access for the first time.

The extra power that had been added to the dragon scale might still be hidden from the world inside of Karl's inventory, now that he had recovered the damaged relic from Hawk's storage, but the effects were not contained.

To most, it was a nearly invisible background process. But to Lord Bomgon, who had the soul bound devotion of every undead creature within his realm, as well as most of the living ones, the change caused a visceral reaction.

Causing the system to become fully activated was the last thing that he wanted. His Necromancers were powerful without the System, there was no benefit to him of making them just a little stronger when it would be making every Demon and Monster species around his borders gain power even more rapidly.

It wasn't clear what had caused the change, or where it was centred, as so few of his spies had noticed any anomalies, even at home in Bomgon. But it was clear that the world was changing, and it most likely had something to do with the Dragons.

If it were the Orcs who had found the relic they had been searching for, the whole world would know by now. Orcs were lousy at keeping secrets.