Spirit Taming

Chapter 257: Predator In The Forest

Before they had even left the cleaned up camp, Ella had thrust a book in to Clark's hands. "Record everything you saw and did." This was all she left him with before taking the lead with Professor Wright. Maria just smirked and gave Clark a look that made him understand that she was saying she had told him so.

The book was an empty journal. Therefore, Clark had to record everything down he had seen from the normal dark imps, their environment, how easily they had been attacked and defeated. He even went in to detail describing the reason they were so weak compared to their normal selves.

After looking over at Isa, he realized that she had one too, and was also listing information about the materials that could be used from the dark imps. It was also pretty clear that Ella had made a small potion from some of the dark imp's blood and was keeping it handing on her belt just to make sure that Clark was tempted to ask what it was.

However, she did not know that the system had already analyzed it for him.

'Shadow gathering potion- uncommon

The shadow gathering potion is made from a dark imp's blood and various other night blooming flower petals. It is able to assist a shadow type beast in gathering the shadow energies from the darkness of the night.

The reason that the dark imp's blood has the ability to assist in this potion is because it uses shadows to hide. It may have a dark type nature but the shadows leave a lasting mark within its body due to the time spent in shadows. Even though the dark imp does not develop a shadow affinity at all.'

"It's perfect for Shy and doesn't even need to be heated. It's a pretty unique potion." Clark was impressed. Ella had gathered these flower petals at night without anyone noticing. And since Clark and Isa had been away, they were unaware of her getting them. It truly spoke to how much Ella thought about her use of time.

To create the perfect potion for a beast with such a unique affinity as shadow, was impressive. It might be an uncommon potion but it was made up of other uncommon materials. Especially the dark imp blood that had certainly added to the potion and raised it to a better quality than it would have been without it.

By the time he had written as much as he had learned from the system about the dark imps, what the dungeon was like, and the mutated gluttonous dark imp, Clark found himself much deeper in the forest.

Professor Wright had been taking them through less traveled but safer trails. She was a clear expert when it came to traveling. Just watching her allowed every single one of the students behind her to learn immensely.

The small sounds of birds chirping were a sign that beasts were not hunting nearby. The berries that were being eaten by birds and other small animals were ignored by them because they were not safe for humans.

But when she reached out and grabbed the berries hidden within thorny bushes as a snack everyone realized that they were safe and without toxins because the spines had developed to protect them.

These lessons seemed small but could be applied in other wilderness areas, not just the forest. What really stunned Clark was that professor Wright barely spoke. She walked and moved in a way that naturally avoided making many sounds. Therefore, she was able to keep their group less noticed.

The way she moved was what Clark was using this to teach him how to better move as well. If he was able to train his muscles to make lighter steps then he would be able to improve his own movements before they reached the north. Especially since he knew that the ice and snow would easily give away their positions when they reached the colder environment.

He wouldn't be inside the city the entire time they were there. The other schools had to have matches on different days.

"Wait, stop here." Clark was the first to stop the group. He had noticed that the birds were not making a single sound. Professor Wright smiled a little and let him take the lead. "There's a beast nearby that scared the other animals. We need to remain hidden. We can hide in the bushes around those trees." The bushes that Clark pointed out were tall enough for any of them to stand in if they desired.

The sound of heavier foot steps soon rang in their ears. The ground even shook slightly.

'Forest bear- common

The forest bear is a large beast that used to be a simple bear. It has learned to absorb the natural energy and awaken its earth typing. This process is extremely rare for normal animals and is the reason for many new species appearing over time.

The forest bear is normally calm but when it becomes angry it is known to fall in to hours of fury filled violence. They are not very territorial unless they have cubs with them. If they are hungry it is better to drop food and run away from them as fast as possible.

They will often be hunted by travelers because their fur is incredibly warm in the winter. However, it is a risky battle because they have the innate ability to go berserk which will keep them alive for a short while even after suffering a mortal wound. The best material…'

Professor Wright was looking at Clark carefully. She wanted to see what he would do about this beast that was in front of them. She knew that Clark must have knowledge about the bear. She also knew that he must want the fur for when they reached the cold of the north.

"Maria, let Lit see if there are cubs around. If not, Lit will poison it secretly and we will defeat it for materials. If it has cubs then we leave it be and wait." The soft whisper was just enough for Maria to hear and release Lit to float above the area without the forest bear noticing.

Professor Wright understood the choice while the others were a bit confused. They did not have the same level of experience as Clark's team did. Therefore, they were a little lost as to why Clark was going to challenge a dangerous beast like this.

"Four cubs." Maria was able to receive the mental message from Lit and called her back to the taming space.

"We wait." It would be cruel to hunt the forest bear and then need to defeat the cubs as well. Even if they beat the forest bear and the cubs escaped, they would not be able to survive. It was a cruel act.

"And what about the beast hunting the cubs?" Professor Wright caused Clark's heart to leap in to his throat. He had not noticed another beast at all and immediately let Devi travel around invisibly to check.

Soon with the guidance of Devi, Clark was able to make out the camouflage shape of a larger eight legged spider hiding in the leaves above the area the mother forest bear and her cubs were approaching.

'Forest trap spider- uncommon

The forest trap spider is known for leaving threads out to trap multiple prey at once. It will tangle and let the prey die to asphyxiation in its sticky and tough threads. It is not venomous but fairly strong. It is incredibly smart in camouflaging itself though.

Using its thread it will cover itself in leaves every day to hide in the trees. This is why it is named the forest trap spider. It sets hidden traps while hiding in forests. It is tough but can not move quickly enough to avoid predators of its own.

The biggest weakness it has is when it is found by the larger prey it is hunting due to…'

"Ella, have your living mist scare that spider in the tree right there. We will give the cubs their breakfast." Clark hated the idea of letting the forest trap spider kill the cubs. The mother had grown in a unique way and the cubs were the first of the family to be true beasts. But even more, he didn't want to watch four beasts lose in front of him to a trap.

Especially from a spider that definitely couldn't eat all four at once.

Watching the mist drift in to the leaves, Clark saw the leaves fall off the spider's body. The sound of falling leaves was not unusual but the mother bear was wise. It knew that this was not a normal occurrence and saw the spider being revealed to it.

In a furious roar and leap that no one thought that the forest bear was capable of, the mother bear had slashed the first trap spider with its claws. The cubs tried to copy their mother and leaped on the defeated forest trap spider as well. It was an excellent lesson of how beasts of certain species learned. And also a sight that not many could witness in their lives.