Spirit Taming

Chapter 136: Research Battle Style

"This! A black pearl!? And you bought it for so cheap?" Isa was amazed by the treasure that Clark had just pulled out of his spatial ring.

"I also got these broken water crystal shards. They thought they were glass. It seems that the rushed appraisals were really their downfall. But they also thought the pearl was a lava rock or something." Clark felt that he had managed to truly shock the group once they got back to the inn.

"I can use this…"

"Exactly. You can use these to help your water elemental research then use the black pearl to start a material plan for a half fire half water wisp. It might be the most unique evolution of a wisp ever." The light that everyone could see in Ella's eyes was that of fire. Her passion for research and beast breeding was more powerful than they knew.

"I am curious, what kind of wisps are there so far?" Maria felt that she needed more information. The wisps were not a beast she had researched or ever focused on.

"They can grow in to a lot of different beasts. I have heard of earth wisps becoming strange earth golems or even sand spirits when they have enough energy." Isa was proud that she knew at least one or two existing paths for the wisps to grow.

"I explained before, wisps are like a blank slate. They can grow in to many spiritual beasts or even beasts with cores like golems. They need the energy to create a physical body though." Ella pulled out multiple journals all dedicated to different elemental growth plans of wisps. Some were recorded history books.

"The fire elemental was one of the first wisp growth plans I ever saw. It was discovered when a wisp consumed fire elemental energy and fused with a campfire. The fire elemental has a hard time existing in certain environments. It is believed that a wisp could even become a flame fairy if the right materials are provided." Ella drew the attention of Isa's flame sprite with this.

"So we should look at the spiritual beasts first. That's interesting. Maybe the wisps are a base species that might stay wisps or might just change in to beasts in the wilds before ever showing their intermediate growth forms." Clark caught on to what Ella was saying without directly stating it.

"Exactly, wisps might be a spiritual energy that gains sentience to a degree. Some beasts can skip growth steps to directly grow in to more powerful beasts. A wisp most likely does this in nature." Ella nodded her head while opening a new journal to start a growth plan for the black pearl. It would be the core item in the wisps' growth.

"Hey Ella, tomorrow we are going to the coliseum. Maybe we will see something that can inspire you." Maria was already thinking of what they might be able to learn after seeing beasts from Star City wilderness areas. They would obviously be in the coliseum at stronger growth levels. Advanced tamers would even be there.

"Speaking of the coliseum, I know how Maria and Isa will fight, but what about you Ella." Clark caught up on the fact that Ella had not actually fought in front of them yet. Only her wisps had.

"Hm? You already saw me fight." Ella instantly stunned all three of them.

"You didn't fight though. Your wisps did." Maria put it bluntly. Ella didn't try to argue.

"If I were to be caught in combat, who would record what was happening for later research?" and that was the last straw. Ella had broken all three of them.

"And the plan for tomorrow is simple. We go to the coliseum, ban Ella from using her beast, and then teach her how to fight." Clark said this before walking away and collapsing in his bed for the night. He wasn't letting Ella argue. Neither was Maria or Isa. That was that.

"Clark, Ella went out last night." Maria had caught Clark before Isa and Ella were ready to go to the coliseum. They knew it was a short walk away and had even glimpsed it the day before.

"I figured that was what that noise was last night. But why?" Clark felt that it couldn't be anything major, however, Ella had gone out in the night. It was very odd.

The two of them eyed Ella curiously until they left the inn. Clark and Maria would ask Ella about it if they couldn't figure it out during the day.

"Star city set up multiple small stadiums. They did this in the shape of a star." Isa rolled her eyes a little. The star was a very popular shape due to the connections with the most common beasts that the city had. "The coliseums each have an arena for different skill levels. It will work out pretty well for us. But you said you and Maria had to change?"

"Oh, I forgot. Maria, you and I should change our looks for this. I want to go all out and keep everything a little more hidden." Clark smirked while Maria did too.

On the first floor of the inn, there were changing rooms. This was very common for inns that accepted travelers. They would want to change before eating in the inn dining area. The best inns even had full baths set up for guests and travelers based on payment.

When Clark and Maria had changed, Devi was already out. What was even more interesting was that Calrk had let Crim out. He had told Crim to take the same form he had before. The armor skill that crim had partially awakened to take the form of wings was a great boon for Clark to train while out. Therefore, Crim had folded the slime armor wings behind Clark making him look even more imposing.

Maria had Lit take the same capped form that she could take. It was a large difference between Lit just wrapping her tentacles around Maria to now. The striking blue of her outfit and mask also hid her from identification because people were too distracted by it.

"Think they will come up to us?" Clark asked Maria softly as they stepped out of the back entrance of the inn to walk around to the front where Isa and Ella were.

"They might be kinda thrown off. But they will recognize Devi if you let him go about visibly." Maria laughed a little while they turned the corner.

The two gazes of Ella and Isa focused on them for a short while before looking away. Their disguises were working just as well as always. Clark also knew it was because the masks they wore had come from his system. Their descriptions had mentionings of hiding their identity. That alone gave them a massive bonus.

"Devi, lead Ella and Isa behind us. We will start talking to them in the market." This was all to keep prying eyes off of them. They headed toward the coliseum and Clark could feel that Ella and Isa were now wondering why they were following Devi.

Once they stopped by the edge of the market, Clark and Maria walked by them. "You two really have trouble catching on?" Clark knew he was being a little mean with his jokes.

"You're kidding me…"

"You tried to match your beast with a ghost theme?"

"My name is phantom. You can check my identification spatial ring. And This is my partner Blue. We are looking for the coliseum. Care to show us the way?" Clark spoke a little loudly that it made a few in the market hear him.

"Of course, we are going there too. We are students visiting so you managed to catch us at the right time." Isa was not too foolish. She realized the benefits of why Clark and Maria would go so far to hide their identities.

"Now that we are away, sorry. But we have enemies. Phantom gave me these and it has kept us from being followed by the Cain family. Luckily no one has bothered us further." Maria explained a little.

"We understand. But why do you have to be like those cliche tamers that act like different people?" Isa had met some tamers that do this. They were sometimes criminals or just popular people who wanted their privacy. The whole hiding identities was thought of as a little childish.

"It could be a good way to hide research goals. Sometimes researchers wear large hoods to hide their bodies. It stops them from being followed to rare herbs or beasts in the wilds." Ella sounded like she had considered doing this before.

"Then it may be useful for you two to plan similar things. I will try and get you something good. The masks and uniforms I have are specially made to hide identities." Clark knew he might be able to push the system to give him a quest. It would be very valuable right now with where they were.

"Then I won't stop you, but I don't want a weird name. Also, I don't want to learn any more hidden things this way. Blue already looks too different. Who knew that a beast could take that form." Ella followed Isa's reaction. She wanted to know the growth plan Clark had made for the glow sting jellyfish. Luckily for Clark, their walk was almost over.

The colosseum was before them.