Spirit Taming

Chapter 250: Three Blockades

"Ready?" The night had come faster than any of them had expected. As much as they had wanted to keep moving after only getting from one place to the next by traveling at a jog, Professor Wright had taught everyone a valuable lesson.

Her lesson had been simple, where would those that left after them look for their group? They would travel the trail that her beast made then keep going. They would not backtrack and expect that they stopped to camp. They would also not expect everyone to just be sitting in a nearby forest edge resting while also planning to train on their trip.

This lesson had boarded everyone's idea when it came to traveling in secret. any of the group had enemies. Whether it was a bully or even an entire family, no matter what this was valuable information. The lesson could help them for their entire lives. Especially when they became bigger than they were now.

"Yes, I thought I would be the one getting you. Professor Wright is still by the fire keeping watch. I guess Ella is next so she can help Ralph and Brad get a little more knowledge put together. Then Rees will be awake with Jerold and Maria so they can talk about movement techniques while remaining light in their feet." Isa had taken a good stock of what everyone's plans were.

"Ah, that means you me and Grace will be the last to keep watch. Well, the first to keep watch tomorrow when we rest for the night." Clark felt a little bad but he had plans for the night. The dark imp dungeon needed to be dealt with since there were valuable materials there.

"Disguises ready?" Clark had already changed in to his mask and white outfit. It was the best protection from anyone that was currently in the dungeon or the area around it. The dungeon was definitely hunted by a few tamer groups.

Isa was ready as well. She had placed on the cloak that Clark had given her, but she had also altered her mask to show a different covering. It was a similar mask to what some people that trained forest beasts would wear. It had a wooden base while also appearing similar to a dryad beast.

"I like the changes to the mask. I feel like you have multiple elemental controls so it makes sense." Isa had not shown this to anyone yet so she was quite proud to do so.

"I thought of that too and that's why I did it. All the elemental energy comes together so that it can grow a world right? Same as a forest. I read a book that says the wind brings air for the trees, fires burn away the rot, water grows the trees, and the soil holds their nutrients. It really felt right." This inspiration was the same for many tamers with beasts that had plant type.

Clark could only agree with it. He too would be inspired if his beast was revolving around growth and plants.

"If we start running from here, we can take this older trail to the dungeon. I bet we won't face any beasts because this area can be traveled easily with the larger trails. The dungeon also has some dark energy that deters other beasts even though it is not a strong dungeon." Clark started out of their camp with Isa. The two didn't draw any attention as they left secretly.

It was better that the others didn't worry about this.

Isa struggled to keep up with Clark's ghostly steps. He had been improving more and more over the last few days. Since he had started to use the shadow energy to influence his steps, his movements had become more elegant. Every single footstep seemed to fall softly on the ground with almost no noise, but this was just an illusion.

The steps still carried a great deal of strength that propelled Clark further and further with every stride.

On the other hand, Isa only had her training to keep up. Since she lacked a wind type beast to balance her elemental type theme, she was unable to use it to push her faster like her father or other family members would. This was something that she wanted to change sooner than later. It was also when she would be able to bring out her full capacity as a tamer of the Rolly family.

A large goal in an even larger plan.

But the more she moved the more she felt that her body was stronger than she realized. The speed she had was reinforced by solid muscle that had been building. This was the energy from the crystal golem. Where the ice maiden and flame sprite helped Isa become stronger when it came to resistance of magical attacks, the crystal golem's energy enhanced her ability to become stronger.

A golem was a tough and powerful beast. Regardless of its typing and where it came from, anyone that tamed a golem would have a tougher body. The energy was perfect for becoming a better physical attacker or just improving a physique overall. Isa had not realized just how much it had already influenced her even though the crystal golem was very weak in terms of how golems were overall.

Seeing that Isa was keeping up after adjusting her stride, Clark pushed a little faster. He didn't worry about beasts, he was worried about getting to the small dungeon entrance on the map. Trees whipped by them as they moved through the older trail. It had been overgrown to a degree due to the fewer tamers traveling it. There were better trails to take.

But once they had been at it for half an hour, Clark finally heard a little commotion up ahead.

The sounds only grew as Clark slowed his speed and he managed to lay eyes on the large clearing in the forest ahead. The cave that sat outside was oozing dark energy from the dark imps inside. But there were also small campfires where a few groups of tamers sat. some seemed scraped up while others looked to have just arrived.

"Each group looks like they are different. I would say three groups competing to get what they can out of the dungeon before leaving. This is good, we won't have to fight a single group to get in. they won't want to upset their balance and material farming." Clark slowed his pace while Isa just nodded in agreement. She was not going to argue a single bit.

She knew that sem tamers were territorial of their hunting grounds. But when more than one group appeared, they would often work out a deal so that they would not bump heads.

"Hey! Who are you two!?" This shout from the night watchman of the first group of tamers woke everyone else up. A few other tamers started to make their way toward Clark and Isa.

"We are here for the dungeon. Just one night of hunting since we are nearby then we will leave. We will not steal from your groups. You seem to have a fair deal." Clark spoke with a deeper tone. It made him seem more intimidating than he would normally be.

"So what? We have a deal here, buzz off." The tamer that had spotted Clark and Isa was not having it. He didn't want anyone getting in the way.

"Yeah, two people can't just come in and claim anything. Just be on your way. Sleep a little extra." The other tamers followed suit, pushing Clark and Isa to leave.

"No, we will be taking what we need and leaving. Or will you prefer all of us fight over this one small dungeon? It would be easy for us to watch all of you fall on your own swords before we take the materials you have." Clark immediately watched as the three groups understood that if they fought, the two masked people before them would easily escape and then return after the fight was over.

These two masked people would not shy away from inducing a large fight here.

"Boss, these two want in our dungeon and want to cause a fight!" one shout brought three people from the front of the dungeon. They were clearly the three leaders of the groups here. Instead of the scouts, they would be speaking with Clark.

"I told them this already. We will enter the dungeon for the night then leave. This is a stop on our way north to watch the student tournaments. You understand why we wish to stop here?" Clark gave a little information. It wasn't the truth but it was enough.

"Just you two? You don't have anyone else coming to compete for the month?" The largest of the three leaders was clearly the most level headed. He was watching the two carefully.

"No competition. Just a stop. If we spot anything interesting, we can share it when we come out. A little gift so to speak. I can scout quite well." Clark watched the three considered this. A silent conversation happening.

"Take this then, we have yet to make it to the second floor because of the darkness there. If you manage to map out the entrance to the second floor I will even pay you. If not, then you pay us half the materials you find as a fee for entrance." It was a little abuse of power but these three teams had claimed this dungeon to hunt. They had to keep their hold on it.

"That's fine. A map for a night. We can do that. Just hold your bargain or else we will have a problem." Devi started to laugh as Clark and Isa walked toward the cave entrance of the dungeon. The laughter chilled those watching. They had no idea where it was coming from or how.

But they knew that the two masked tamers they saw were not normal. They had hidden strength that could have hit them at any moment. It was a threat, but also a way to show that Clark and Isa truly wanted no trouble.