Everyone was stunned by Carlo's spell—not some run-of-the-mill magic. The low-ranked mages especially gawked at the bearded Pyraxis with awe. With the fight over, they waited for the rest of the caravan to catch up, planning to cross the narrow ravine together and camp on the other side for the night.
While waiting, they tended to the wounded and scavenged anything valuable from the hyena corpses. There wasn't much—just teeth and claws, nothing special about their hides. The teeth and claws, though, could be crafted into arrowheads or spear tips for disposable weapons.
As the group scavenged teeth and claws, a young, nerdy low-ranked mage, about the same age as the other soldiers, approached Carlo. "Might it be rude to ask the mechanism behind your spell, sir?" Most fighters here were young adults—older ones who hadn't broken through as circle warriors or mages usually retired, using their earnings to start families, hoping their kids would make it big.
