Spirit Taming

Chapter 120: The First Stop

"Ah, there we go. The last of our students to arrive. I hope your gamble was fruitful. But with those injuries and the sweat on your brows…well just remember moderation next time. You can always follow Clark, Isa, Maria, and Ella's example. They had a fruitful harvest without abusing their luck." Doc's words brought furry to all four of the students that arrived.

It was easy to see that the two other students had been bought by the two Cain family members. They were very angry that they had been injured on their job and even taken for a ride as fools. Overall, they had already lost out on plenty of materials and nearly died.

"We understand." The four spoke with their teeth gritted before Doc changed focus.

"Now, this is the edge of a sandworm nest. They are here because of…?" Doc waited for an answer.

"There are a lot of sandstone veins here which are their favorite food. Not to mention the sand roaches which live here. They are the perfect source of additional nutrition for the little sand worms when breeding season comes around. Which happens to be within one week of today." Doc had a wide smile. A smile that seemed just too happy for everyone to be at ease with.

"Excuse me, does that mean that the sandworms will be aggressive?" One of the other students had the courage to ask this. The answer was already in front of them.

"Of course they are. But it also means that they won't be touching the earth materials around here. They will remain within five feet of their sandstone nests. The best method to escape them is to run away. Normally they would follow you under the ground. Nesting season is actually safer because they won't follow prey.

Just don't touch at nest unless you can beat one while it sleeps. They can feel the slightest vibration in the ground though."

This last bit of information made Ella, Clark, Isa, and Maria look at each other. Isa and Ella knew that they had beasts that didn't need to touch the ground. But Maria knew that Clark also had a beast that didn't need to touch the ground. It meant that they would gather a lot of eggs if possible. A lot of eggs they could sell.

"Remember, the sandworms lay a clutch of eggs at least numbering a hundred. About eighty die off or don't hatch at all because of the tough environment they live in. The last twenty will fight until only one is left. Sandworms are brutal to their open kind. So, do not feel bad that you are separating a child from a parent. They do not need their siblings or parents.

They are born able to fend for themselves."

The last of the information they needed was given to them. No one would feel bad about the sandworm eggs. They could hunt them and gather the materials and the eggs. It was an ideal time to hunt.

"Are there any other beasts we should watch out for? There should be a few predators that we don't know about here." Since they were all not familiar with the normally beach dwelling sandworms, the student that asked this brought everyone to focus. Clark appreciated the question very much. He had almost been taken for a ride with the others in their excitement.

"That question just got you bonus points on your grade. Thinking about the entire food chain is always important. If there is a breeding season for a beast, then that is also the hunting season for another beast." Doc knew well that those who thought of the added dangers would do the best.

The researchers that knew of every possible risk because they cared enough to research them, would find the most awe inspiring new information.

"Tell me, what eats worms in nature? What eats the basic earthworm that only grows about five inches long?" Doc was sure that everyone would be able to figure out what beast they would be wary of.

"Birds…do you mean we have to watch out for a stone falcon? They migrate this time of year…" One student saw the connection and became slightly pale.

"You are very right. And you know that the stone falcon is one of the very few pure rock type beasts that can fly. The stone falcon is outlined in these documents. I have intentionally left some blanks for you to fill out. Hand them in by tomorrow at this time to me here. I want you all to work in your groups and do what you need.

You are in no way allowed to interact with another group. Even if they are in danger, turn away. My beasts will handle life threatening danger. I will be watching." Doc left the stack of paper on his seat and moved toward a single carriage.

Since he was the fastest, Clark grabbed his group their papers before heading back to their carriage to eat. The other groups took Doc's words seriously and avoided even asking other groups about their journeys. They also didn't want to anger the other groups causing competition between them.

"We can wake up early in the morning and scout out the positions of nests. It seems like the best time because they will be out sunning themselves." Clark's plan was the best because they would be able to scout out the nests and capture the eggs with their beasts.

"We should try and gather the earth materials too. If this is purely a sandworm nest then we will be able to find some large earth crystals. They will be great for trading near Star city which is heavy in water materials." Ella wanted to ensure she would have plenty to trade with others.

"It says here that the sandworms may have small hoards of food in their nest because they want to remain at their nest until their egg hatches." Maria found it odd that the sandworms would grow up alone but their parents would still guard the nest. It was an abnormal instinct.

"If we find some smaller sandworms we might be able to take them down. The sandworms have spikes on them that they use to carve through the earth. They should be tough materials, which means armor. Perfect armor materials." Clark swore that Isa's eyes were filled with gold coins.

"Sounds good to me. I say we sleep with one p[erson awake and do a shift. You three can sleep in the carriage first and I will stay up." Clark left them to take a short walk after saying this. He had a few things he wanted to look at.

The Cain family pair had gone to sleep already. Their two allies were outside still too angry and annoyed with their situation to sleep. What Clark saw on his walk by was that the carriage had been fixed using some sort of thread. Luckily, the system was able to analyze it.

'Iron spider silk- uncommon

This material is made from an iron spider. The silk they produce is tough like iron but very flexible. It is a beast that not many raise because it has a tendency to create nests it does not wish to leave. The silk has no poison energies because the spider that creates it has lost the ability to create poison.

The iron spiders focus on strengthening their silk making their silk both great armor and great weapon materials.'

This was what Clark wanted to see. When he had walked by the carriage, he had purposefully grabbed a single metal piece of the carriage spoke with Devi's help. It was the key pin that held the wheel on the carriage. Therefore, the four would have needed another item to hold it together. This had gone just as Clark hoped and exposed one of their beasts.

"Devi, head out tonight and see what you can see. If you find any small nests let me know. I can send Crim with you to hunt for a little." Clark could tell that Devi wanted to stay out all night. Giving a scouting task was exactly what he needed.

Crim didn't seem as determined to go out and battle. He wanted to return to the mud deer that they had battled because he didn't have the chance to fight more. It was because Ella had handled them with the wisps too quickly. Crim felt he had to remove and fight more.

"Clark?" Maria had seen Clark walk away and waited up. "Do you think we will have to worry about them tomorrow while we hunt?' Maria knew that Clark had gone to scout out their enemies.

"No. They are angry but they aren't going to risk a failing grade by bumping in to us. I have a feeling that they will set something up when we are moving again. They wanted to separate us the first time too." Maria and Clark knew that the Cain family wanted their dirty deeds somewhat hidden. So it was good to have some freedom from them for a day.