Chapter 2009: Commotion Again?

A commotion outside brought Karl out of the new building.

A group had just come out of the dungeon, and they had a serious disagreement about how the loot was to be distributed.

"Alright, ladies and gentlemen. The arena is still active. You can take your argument in there. If you want to make it something more serious, kindly do not start a clan war within city limits.

We tend to take destruction of property quite personally," Karl warned.

The fighting didn’t stop, it was too late for that. However, they were both Peak Immortals, and there were more than enough Supreme Ranked Clan Leaders here to protect the city.

Instead of arguing about it, Karl simply shifted into Avatar form, and used Behemoth to make himself a hundred metres long. That was large enough to casually grab a fighter in each front paw, then toss them directly into the arena portal.

Around him the Clan Leaders laughed hysterically, while the pair who was already using the arena stared at the newcomers in confusion.

"Sorry about that. These two need to work off their feelings. If you don’t mind finishing later, I will ask Father Oak to keep the arena open for a while." Karl called through the portal. 𝘧𝓇ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝘣𝓃ℴ

The pair shrugged. "It’s fine, we can call it here. It was already obvious how our fight was going to end. What’s got them so worked up, anyhow?"

Karl shrugged, and waited for someone to answer.

"They failed their run, and with three members lost, the other two were knocked off the boss platform. That kicked all five of them out of the dungeon. We resurrected the dead ones, they hadn’t taken any soul damage, but there were some hard feelings."

Karl sighed as he shifted back, instinctively going to Cat Demon form, which briefly confused the newcomers who had seen him arrive in human form.

After a moment, they realized it was something like a combat form for him, as his Guild Tabard showed with his armour in this form, a warning to other Immortals that he was not to be messed with.

And to Supremes that he would not be easy to bully.

"Can you tell me about the dungeon? What did you face? What difficulty?"

A Peak Immortal Shaman got up from the bench in front of one of the shops, and bowed politely to Karl.

"We went for difficulty five, as we were all Peak Immortals, and our Clans often work together. We got a Wrath Demon dungeon, and made it right to the last boss.

Unfortunately, we got a named Demon, Carnage. And he fights dirty."

Karl frowned. "Carnage fought dirty? That’s new, usually he’s all about a good clean fight."

The Shaman paused, while the Rogue beside him began to laugh with a level of grim delight that didn’t fit the situation.

"Carnage kicked the tank behind the knees, knocking him on his back, then used that lovely axe of his to take off the Shaman’s head.

I held him long enough for the tank to get back up, but apparently he can cast fireballs. Without a healer, I lived another ten seconds. From there, you’ll have to either ask the other warrior, who is still unconscious, or the two fighting it out in the arena.

They both blame each other for the loss."

Karl smiled. "Well, that’s not dirty fighting by Carnage’s estimation. I thought you meant he did something truly dirty. Remember when facing Carnage, all four of his limbs count as weapons. If you come in range of one, you might get hit.

I take it that you didn’t get dungeon rewards, then? Or they were not up to the standard that you hoped for?"

The Shaman shook his head and held up an Epic Grade staff. "That’s the problem. The rewards were amazing. I got an Epic staff, and my friend here got a Peerless grade dagger. But the others only got Rare Grade items, and they’re both convinced they could have gotten another Peerless Grade item or even a Supreme Ranked item if they had beat the final boss."

Now, everyone understood.

It wasn’t that they got nothing, it was that they got just enough that they were certain they should have gotten something amazing.

And they both blamed each other for the failure.

"What were their classes anyhow?"

"A Paladin and a Druid."

Karl frowned. "You’re telling me, you had a Paladin, a Druid and a Shaman, and nobody managed to get a resurrection off?"

"In my defence, I was dead."

The crowd chuckled and Karl smiled. "Fair enough. I will give you that one. But that does explain why they’re fighting. Both of them should have the ability, but neither managed it.

Let me guess, the Druid is a shifter type?"

"How did you know?" The Shaman asked.

"Because he didn’t cast resurrection. If he was a nature element caster type, he would have done it right away. But some spells don’t work while transformed. I learned that from an old friend named Deve."

Nobody present knew who Deve was, but given that Karl had seen fit to name-drop him, they all assumed that he was likely an Elder of the Guild belonging to another branch, likely a Supreme or a Legend.

The two Supremes who had been fighting before Karl threw the new pair into the arena stepped outside for the last part of the conversation, and began to laugh.

"Those two are going to hold a grudge for quite some time, I think. They’re from the same Clan, and they’ve got to see each other every day. Perhaps we could cover the expense of sending them in again tomorrow?

Our Clans are allied, and I really don’t want to deal with that level of whiny for the next three years until they get over it," one of the pair suggested.

Karl shrugged. "I don’t see why not. The timer is 24 hours from the time of entry, so they can go tomorrow at the same time. Unless they can enter their partially complete dungeon again today.

I don’t know how it will work if the dungeon kicks you out."

The shaman shook his head. "It’s closed, and we’re locked out. They started fighting when they realized it."