Before waking the Elder, Karl began to make preparations.

The man was likely to be hungry, so he sent a System Message to Lotus to prepare a feast for their new Lycan friends, and to see what he could grab without messing up the plans for dinner.

["You can grab the leftover casseroles in the freezer. We made a big batch, to use in multiple meals, and we can just replace them if you use them up."]

That was helpful.

["Alright, I will grab some casseroles as side dishes to the roast meat. Then some of the fruit in the storage room. I will let you know how it goes after I wake up the Elder."]

In the tiny world, Lotus was nearly vibrating with excitement.

Not only were they getting an Immortal Realm branch of the Guild, they were all FLUFFY.

This had to be up there on the "best days ever" list for any green dragon cleric. But most importantly, they were big foodies, and that meant she would certainly get more volunteers to join their Mystic Cooking group, and help cook for the team.

They weren’t particularly short on cooks right now, but spreading the joy of cooking was her passion. 𝘧𝓇ℯ𝑒𝓌𝑒𝑏𝓃𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭.𝒸ℴ𝓂

Karl used Dark Flame to heat the food in Hawk’s space while he prepared to wake up the Elder. First, he would have to give the man a small Soul and Life energy infusion. That could come from what was stored in his weapons, but it would be essential to stabilizing the Elder once he was moving.

Karl used [Plant Growth] to make a wooden table, and set out the steaming hot casseroles and plates of roast meat. Then, he infused some energy into the Elder, and wafted the scent of meat in his direction, going for the subtle way of waking him up first.

The Lycan leader’s eyes shot open, and Karl smiled. He thought that might be the way to do it.

Roast pork from the dungeon was a good choice, and as it was Ascended Rank monster meat, it contained an abundance of energy that would help the Elder recover.

"And who might you be? What happened to the village?"

"The village was attacked. I am Karl of the Darklight Host, and the New Home Merchant Clan. Your Pack is looking to relocate to a larger territory, with a new village. But they didn’t want to do anything without your input, so I prepared breakfast."

The ancient Lycan smiled. "You know our people well, and I see that you are a Mystic chef."

Karl shook his head. "No, but the Darklight Host has many of them.

That’s another thing that we should speak of. I am looking to start a branch of the Guild here in this world, and I would like to recruit your Pack to join us. There are many benefits that I can explain once you’ve eaten."

The Pack leader smiled as he popped a cube of roasted pork belly into his mouth.

"Oh, I am quite familiar with the Darklight Host, young Avatar.

You see, I travelled the cosmos after I left my home pack, and came across a number of worlds where they either operated as a Guild, or simply ruled the entire planet.

The Darklight Host might not exist on this world, but they are somewhat of a Legendary existence in the Immortal Realms. If they are truly inviting us to join, I would encourage my pack to take up a vote on whether the benefits are worth it."

Karl nodded. "Well, as you are familiar with the Guild, that makes things easier. I explained to the pack earlier, but we have the talent to help your members learn trade skills immediately. We also have a Guild Skill for the branch that will let you all share one skill you possess to your whole group when working together."

"Ah, the Ancient Wisdom skill. That’s a wonderful one. I’ve seen Guilds with it before, and they’re a force of nature in a dungeon. My question is who will be the branch leader here?"

Karl smiled. "That is the real question. Normally, I would be, as I have the skill. However, you are the Supreme, and both Guild size and status depend upon the power of the leader."

The Pack Elder nodded. "I don’t want to be the actual leader. I dislike meeting with other Clan Leaders and dealing with their arrogance. That’s why I passed down the title and went into seclusion before I was injured."

Karl nodded. "Did you get stuck at the bottleneck?"

The Lycan shook his head. "No. I was attacked during my advancement. I took a lot of soul damage, and I still need time to recover before I can try again. I appreciate you giving me a bit of a bump, recovering when your soul is damaged is a slow process."

Karl nodded. "If your Pack is willing to join the Darklight Host, I can likely help with that as well. I have some specialized techniques that are great at recovering Soul Energy."

If he gave the ancient Lycan Soul Steal, it should be enough for him to recover sufficiently in a half dozen dungeon runs, Karl assumed. Soul Harvest seemed like a bit of overkill just to recover from some damage.

It was aimed at the Immortal Spirit, though. So, it might actually be necessary for the pack leader’s recovery.

The ancient one was nearly through an entire casserole, and close to five kilos of roast pork were already gone, leaving the entire Pack staring at him in shock. He had been out of commission a while, but that eating prowess was truly impressive.

Where was he even putting it all?

"Alright. Who is the leader now? I mean, not me. Who was doing the job while I recovered?"

Elder Blackwoods stepped forward, and bowed.

"That would be me, Elder."

"Oh, Tufts! That’s a good choice. How has the pack been doing?"

"Other than the attack today? We were doing well. Suppressed by many of the other Clans in the area, but doing well enough, and we got regular access to the dungeon."

The pack leader sighed. "It seems that I will have to take action once we move. You did vote to move to the Darklight Host, right?"

"We haven’t voted yet, Elder. But the Darklight Host members are few in number, and under the protection of the New Home Merchant Clan."

"Under Nerissa? She’s a good one. I wonder how they suckered her into taking Darklight Host members? She should know that they’re all agents of Chaos, even if this one wasn’t a World Dragon Avatar."

Karl laughed. "I will tell you the whole story later. But she delegated the recruitment from the mortal worlds to her Elders."

"HA! Classic rookie mistake."