Karl sensed magic from the yard as Cara used [Disintegrate] to remove all signs of dirt and icing from the playground, which gave him just enough time to react as the badger strolled back in with the wild haired girl on his back.
Flying made the little girlās hair turn into a tangled mass of wavy curls, but neither of the two little troublemakers seemed to care.
Cara let the little one down, then transformed into the same teen girl form she had chosen for the wedding, and grabbed Deveās wife by the hand.
"Weāve worked up an appetite, and I smell fresh tomatoes in the fridge." She insisted.
"What does that have to do with me?" Deveās wife laughed.
"Neither of us knows how to cook." Cara replied with a shrug.
The houseās cook burst into laughter that brought curious onlookers from multiple doors.
"You two, come with me, and you can help with dinner."
Cara high-fived the toddler, and then pointed at Karl. "Teach Deveās cook the new skill, would you? I want Lotusā pasta, but it needs the skill."
"Seriously?" Karl asked.
Cara shrugged. "Lotus is busy."
The Alliance members stared at her. Was that really all it took to convince Karl that someone should be given a rare trade skill?
And if it was, how did they ensure that they were on the list the next time that the badger wanted something done?
Then, Caraās complaints morphed into a slow smile, and she placed one hand on the leg of the chef.
The Royal-ranked warrior found herself shoved forward by a disturbingly strong little arm, and nearly landed on top of Karl.
Dana intercepted the unfortunate woman and placed her back on her feet.
"So, that is what Cara is like when sheās hangry and humanoid. She really is the demanding one, isnāt she?" She joked.
Karl shrugged. "Cara has a strange relationship with time. You never know what she will view as urgent."
[Their house is about to get visitors, and she needs the skill to impress them tomorrow.] Cara added mentally, so only Karl and Dana would hear her.
Karl relented and patted the chef on the head as he activated [Follow Me, Little One]
{Champion Karl offers knowledge} Skill [Mythic Cooking] will be transferred to Sara the Second Last.
That was different. Normally, it placed the descriptor first. This was more like a title, and the chef looked vaguely insulted when she saw it.
It was a lifelong sore point. She was never the smart one, or the fast learner, or the athletic one, or the popular one. But she was never quite dead last. She worked hard to ensure that she was never the last one.
The System didnāt need to rub it in.
At least now, she could claim to be first in the Guild for something. She wasnāt even the kitchen manager, just the one that Cara had grabbed because she was doing prep work in the kitchen when the badger entered.
But that bit of luck had made her the first one in this Guild to get the Mythic Cooking skill.
Cara smiled. "Perfect, thank you. Now, Sara Chef, come with me. There is pasta to make."
They were about to continue the meeting when a runner from the compoundās entrance burst in, breathing heavily.
"Sirs! Nobody is answering their Guild Messages, and weāve got visitors at the door, demanding to speak with the Alliance Leaders!" He shouted over the noise in the front room.
"Who did someone piss off now? Theyād better be important." Hugo muttered.
Then Cara shouted from the kitchen. "Theyāre early! Karl, go bring them in, would you?"
Deve glared toward the kitchen, then turned to Karl. "If the badger is causing external trouble, Iām going to strangle her."
Cara made an insulted rumble. "Hey, I didnāt do this. Well, not directly. Besides, theyāre not here to cause trouble."
Karl sighed, and walked to the door with Hugo and Raj at his shoulders.
Hugo looked back. "Deve, Dana, please remain here and explain everything to the rest of the Myths before we come back with the guests. I donāt want anyone out of the loop if itās about todayās events.
I strongly suspect that it is. Someone likely had a spy or a monitoring spell near the dungeon entrance and heard your conversation with the guards."
That was a distinct possibility. That, or the guards had continued to gossip after they left, and hadnāt bothered to think that everyone passing nearby would be able to hear them, or that the moment someone mentioned Immortal Rank gear drops, it would cause them to immediately alert their Guilds.
Karl and the Guild Masters walked to the entrance of the compound, and found that they didnāt just have one or two guests.
There was an entire Raid team worth of Mythic adventurers waiting at the entrance for them to arrive. Almost all of them were warriors, but Karl saw a few mages.
So, they were likely their respective Guild Masters.
He could see all that detail if he wanted to examine them individually, but it was easier just to look at the colour of their names using the System Interface, and make assumptions.
Fortunately, Hugo and Raj knew many of them.
"Guild Masters, what brings you by today? Did we forget about a holiday on the calendar?" Raj asked casually.
"We heard the most curious thing today, and it appears that your Alliance has been withholding many good things from the rest of us. Like, for example, the fact that you have managed to improve the loot in not only an Overlord Ranked Dungeon, but now a Mythic Ranked one.
That is the sort of thing that really should be explained to others.
Weāre all friends here, arenāt we? Why not share a few of the secrets to success? Itās not like your Guild will lose out, now that youāve got a Mythic Ranked armourer and weapons maker in the Alliance." The leader of the guests, a Dragonkin Warrior named Paul, insisted.
He was the leader of the Crimson Tide Guild, which Karl was sure that he had seen somewhere before. But also a blue dragonkin, if you went by the scales visible on his neck.
It was understandable that he was absolutely livid about being kept in the dark when there was new knowledge involved.
Even if there wasnāt a way to use it to make his Guild wealthy.