Spirit Taming

Chapter 251: Shredding Shadows

"You really just wanted them to go?" one of the tamers looked at their leaders. They knew that they had a nonaggression deal but this seemed like they were giving away their hard earned prizes.

"We either win some materials or a better map. Or they die in there. I don't care what. But you all know that we have already had injuries. It's better for everyone that we don't fight whatever was making those illusions." The leaders had confused Devi's laughing with illusion skills. A tough type of beast to deal with.

After the group agreed they returned to their resting while Clark and Isa had stepped within the cave and through the door of the dungeon.

'Quest- dark imp subjugation

The increased dark energy coming from the dark imps is due to a stronger dark imp growing on the final floor of the dungeon. It is better to defeat this imp or tame it so that it will not cause a dungeon break out in three days.

Requirement- tame or defeat the imp causing issues.

Reward- 5 gotcha tickets, two shadow crystals, one shadow fruit seed.'

Clark wasn't too dedicated to this dungeon. Eh had just wanted to gain materials so that he would be able to help Shy more. But seeing that he would receive the seed of a shadow fruit, he had a few ideas.

The system had to be offering something valuable to him. If he planted the shadow fruit in the skeletal forest portion of the edens end taming space, then it would surely be useful for Shy to grow. She would be able to consume the fruits as they grew which definitely would be high in shadow energy. Overall, it would be ideal for her.

Not to mention any additional fruits could be sold as rare materials.

"I have a challenge for us, we will get to the second floor and see what we can beat there." Clark left it vague but gave Isa enough to use as motivation. She questioned him a little before responding. She was thinking that Clark was getting a little ahead of things before she caught on that this was to make them stronger while also gathering easy materials.

"These are just the stairs, we will decide what we do when we make it to the first floor." Isa had the map that the leaders had handed them. Clark was letting her deal with it since she would be the one that needed it the most if things went badly. He knew that he could lean on the system and host beasts to escape if necessary. Isa would only have her beasts and the map. It evened out.

"The forest floor is mostly a single chamber. From there it splits off in to ten mapped paths. None that seem to lead to the stairs. But it has notes that the shadows are the dangerous places here." Isa understood what the map meant as soon as he stepped on the last stair of the entrance.

What opened up before them was a simple room. But there were stalactites and large stalagmites that grew from the ceiling and floor of the cave. They caused the small parts of lights from dungeon crystals to cast great shadows of perfect darkness. It was ideal for the dark imps to hide in. they could attack their prey from any shadow constantly.

"And I assume the trails will be the challenge because they will be mostly darkness. Devi, sneak around and see what you can find. Crim, come out and see what you can find for prey. Shy, try using those shadows to make shadow threads. I want you to train your skill as best as you can while we are here. You don't need to control a dark imp but if you manage to I will reward you."

Clark knew that this was a tough ask for Shy. She had a weak control of her shadow threads and could barely manipulate anyone, even someone unsuspecting. Yet, she did not fear this challenge. She saw that Devi and Crim had power. She was jealous and awestruck by them. They were her older siblings and if she wanted to be on the same foot as them, she had to get stronger too.

The small strands of silk that replicated hair on her doll form made some waves before small shadow threads branched out around Clark. They seemed to be breaking and forming constantly. Shy had not held back at all when she had been asked to train. It was better that Clark was carrying her as well. It let her fully focus on what she needed to train.

"Clark, we should start moving, check the passages where there might be hidden stairs." Isa knew that she would be able to use her flame sprite to create light in the darkness. It would make them a target for the dark imps but also help them map out the passageways better.

A slight advantage over the other tamers who had not shown off any beast that was ideal for creating light or flames at all when they were entering the dungeon.

"Agreed" Clark let Isa take the lead. Crim was sniffing out the shadows and had already caught the scent of another beast. His growling and noise stopped while he caught the trail ahead of them. His eyes focused on the darkness of a shadow. Clark also caught on to this and looked at the shadow closer.

'Dark imp- uncommon

The dark imp will hide in any darkness it can. When it is exposed to the light it becomes weaker due to the opposing energy that light has on its purely dark energy. It will attack with sharp fangs and claws. The wings it has are unable to fly due to its evolution from a demon imp many generations ago.

The dark imp can grow the longer it remains in the dark. An elder dark imp will grow to the size of a human and be much more agile. They will also be able to attack with their tails leaving behind a decaying poison that slowly infects their prey. The best materials to…'

Since Clark was not intending to raise the dark imps as his beast, he didn't bother reading the materials needed to help them grow. Instead, he focused on the fact that they only attacked with teeth and claws. He also knew that the chance of encountering an elder dark imp on the first floor was too rare. They would most likely be on the second floor and causing the issues he had to solve.

"Crim, there's one in that shadow, deal with it." Clark let Crim take full control as the Imp in the shadows realized that it had been spotted. With a vicious hiss, the dark imp leaped out from the shadow.

The skin seemed to be like dark leather, but it was stretched too thin over its childlike body. The claws that extended from thin fingers were razor sharp. Its teethers were pointed white needles that stood out in the dim lighting. It had triangle ears with a sharply pointed tail. It was still young so it was not at all fast enough to compete with Crim.

Without any hesitation, Crim slashed out with a single set of claws. He easily defended against the leaping attack of the dark imp and slashed through its weak leathery skin. The dark imp didn't even have the chance to fight back. If it had even thought about countering it would still have been torn to shreds.

"Its skin can be used for a book binding material or a special material for a dark leather fabric. But its teeth are good for a few other things. The claws will degrade too fast." Clark watched Isa mumble while she moved to store the dark imps body away. She was seemingly annoyed with it since it was not that valuable. " We should look for some black spotted mushroom caps.

They will be worth a lot more. They sound like they are poisonous but they are the opposite. They make great detoxifying teas and even bathing herbs."

"I will keep an eye out. Are they just white with black spots?" Clark could assume that they grew here because of the unique dark and dim lighting. But also because light filtered through the dungeon crystals in the walls and ceiling.

"Exactly, and they are really liked by any beast that lives in the darkness because of their flavor. They absorb the energy in the air naturally, which means they will have a mix of whatever energy they grow in. they are better in dark places but that doesn't mean they show up elsewhere with weaker effects sometimes." Isa proved her worth as a business woman yet again.

"Then I will try even harder to spot them. For now, you should have your flame sprite light up the passageway there. I think we should check it first. Crim looks like he smells more dark imps and we should deal with them so they don't sneak up on us." Crim was already moving towards the passageway with a growing growl.